Black Candy
by JadoreJAC
Summary: I like to play amongst the wicked, douse myself in sin, fall into bed at 3AM, then do it all again.
1. Chapter 1

A little bit of character explanation: Bella's personality (in my story) will reflect that of a highly intelligence person with ingrained characteristics of apathy, manipulation, and selfishness. Her IQ is in the upper 130 region. These details are pertinent to her persona, as well as the story.

_Black Candy_ is going to be separated into parts. The first part is Bella's POV; all subsequent chapters will be her point-of-view until I specify and label it is the second part, which will leave way for the next point-of-view - Edward's.

This story is rated M because, unlike my other stories, there will be written sex scenes.

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**PART ONE**

_**Bella**_

_In a mad world, only the mad are sane._ I tended to agree with this, which is probably why I led my life the way I did. Differences had always separated me from bonding with my peers, the people surrounding me, even my parents - they were never on the same wavelength. I saw things differently than others, in a more distorted kind of way. Someone else's wrong was usually my right, and that cast me out as unusual and as someone to be exalted and admired...at least by my schoolmates and the like.

I never bothered to learn about the plebes that were constantly around, never bothered to muster up a care. I preferred to be isolated in my own mind than to frolick amongst the town idiots. So far deep into my psyche was I. I'd romanticized madness to the point that sanity no longer was appealing..._because the only ones for me are the mad ones._

Lace against skin, I watched my doppelganger through the mirror, witnessing her cigarette burn to fluttering ash on the dark hardwood floor. I flicked my Camel, uncaring about the damage, and swiveled to my side. My phone vibrated from the nightstand, dancing itself across a dirty plate of toast crumbs and used silverware. I ignored it and instead pulled smoke into my lungs, torching my pink throat with vapors. My mom, only two rooms away, would have absolutely killed me if she saw my sin.

I walked over to my open window, blowing out my smoke with pursed lips. Watching with narrowed eyes, the second story window across the street suddenly became illuminated. Christian Peterson's room. He was a 21-year old teaching assistant who had first started at Cambridge Prep when I was a senior. He and I had never actually physically been inappropriate, but he liked to watch me undress from his across-the-way bedroom. His blue curtains shimmied and then he was sliding his window open. His fingers twirled mischievously in a wave.

I flicked my head up once in greeting. But tonight, I didn't feel like teasing, so I simply walked away, murdered my cigarette into a secret ash tray, and tucked into bed.

The next day found me in my lifelong bedroom, screams from my mother, Renee echoing along the walls.

"Isabella Swan! What is this?"

I stared at her evenly. Was that an actual question? She could take in the four naked walls of white, and brown cardboard boxes stacked like a Tetris pile, but still felt the need to ask idiotic, rhetorical questions...

"Exactly what it looks like," I replied.

"But, you're not moving for another week!"

"Says who?" I muttered as I folded the last of my t-shirts from my white dresser.

"You did!" She said, outraged. "You said you weren't moving in with Rose and Jasper until a few days before school started."

I shrugged. "Oh well."

"I made arrangements for the movers to come this Saturday," she said, her anger finally simmering down as she really took in the sheer blankness of my room.

"I cancelled the movers, and ordered a U-Haul instead."

My mother shook her head, clearly not used to my antics by this point. "How did you even do that?"

I laughed harshly. "I have an IQ of 134, Mother. I'm quite sure I can handle hiring a U-Haul."

My mother shook her head, and came beside me to help fold up boxes and stack them. "Do you think you'll need a taser? I should have gotten you a taser...you're too thin," She muttered to herself, shaking her head in disappointment.

"I have a gun packed with my toothbrush."

Renee gave me an annoyed look. "Bella, please tone down the sarcasm. Chicago is no Cambridge. You were safer at Harvard." The last part was a whisper, but it reached my ears nonetheless. There was nothing else to do but roll my eyes and shut my mouth. It was my sophomore year and I wouldn't be returning to Harvard, but rather transferring southwest.

Dear old Ma and Da were none too happy about me leaving a highly respected Ivy League school to attend a quote "pedestrian waterhole for fornicating mouth-breathers." I found that statement harsh considering my twin cousins on my dad's side had immediately started at the University of Chicago after graduation. It was actually a highly-esteemed establishment, but nothing was ever good enough for their little girl. I was their only child, thus their only chance to bequeath their uppity values and social elitism.

My mom and I were silent for the rest of the afternoon; just the sounds of scraping cardboard boxes and the occasional clack of empty hangers haunted us. It was just the dawn of night before everything was packed into boxes, all of my possessions, both worldly and illegal.

"I can't believe this," my mom sputtered as she looked around. "My baby is leaving tomorrow."

I looked down at the box I'd falsely labeled BOOKS and my inner ego smirked. She had no idea who her "baby" really was. She and my dad, Charles - or Charlie as he preferred - were under the naive impression that I was chaste...innocent of all the sins in the world, untouched by the dangers. Little did they know about me.

Instead of offering consolation, I ignored the endearment and her sad tears. I was not one to deal with emotion well. I liked to push sadness and grief away; they had no business in my soul. Eventually Renee calmed down and Charlie came home from the office. All three of us together ate a dinner of Chinese food with classical music playing lightly in the background. Both Charlie and Renee attempted to rope me into small talk, but I mostly just listened to their back-and-forth of inane chattering and life complaints. After dinner, I excused myself to the guest room where I was assigned for the night.

I settled into the unfamiliar blanket and pillows, staring blankly at the cream painted ceiling. Although I had nine hours of my sixteen-hour trip to make in the morning, I had trained my mind and body to perform well on 'Empty'. I knew for a fact I had Ambien snuggled into the corner of my BOOKS box, but I had no desire to leave the confines of the foreign queen bed to dose myself to unconsciousness. Instead, I ran through my route in my mind until I eventually lulled to sleep.

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**TIT FOR TAT: Review and you'll get Charlie's POV**

**Updates will be every 5 days**


	2. Chapter 2

I just wanted to mention, for future reference, this Bella will be quite fond of quoting in order to stump or upstage others.

Also, updates will be every 5 days so Chapter 3 comes on: Wednesday the 12th. The banner for this is on my profile if you're interested.

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_**Bella**_

One thousand miles coasted beneath my tires before they reached Chicago soil. The brownstone my cousins, Jasper and Rose, shared off campus was located on a street mainly inhabited by the more well-off students and recent graduates...so as told by Rosalie.

The brownstones were all connected, identical with their dark brown exterior and stark white window sills, three-stories high down the grid. The sidewalks were shaded by the line of trees parallel to them, although several towering streetlamps stood ready. It was beautiful and seemingly calm, a perfect place to wreak a little havoc.

A sleek red BMW was parked in front of the brownstone labeled 5201: Rosalie's car...nothing less for a spoiled little princess. My uncle had struck it big as a luxury resort mogul and made an extremely big name for himself in Texas, thus affording him the opportunity to shower his wife and kids with whatever their little hearts desired. I couldn't really say much about that given my own father's elite position as CEO of the third biggest oil company in the nation, as well as the infamy both my parents had gained as high society members.

Just the sight of that cherry red foreign convertible instantly brightened my lethargic spirit. If there was anyone I could say I truly, deep down loved, it was Rosalie - and of course Jasper, - but she was the closest thing I could consider as a 'best friend'. Rose was my antithesis: blonde to my brown, tan to my pale, tall to my average, sweet to my aloof. Despite our polar opposite personalities, we got along better than anyone else in our family even in spite of the almost 2,000 miles that had separated us all our lives.

I chose to park behind Rose's Beemer, making sure to line the U-Haul trailer connected to the back of my Mercedes SUV - a testament to my spoiled nature - up with the sidewalk. A Civil War book lay half-read on the top of the stoop, a deflated packet of Capri Sun lying drained next to it - only Jasper. I hit my knuckles against the front door three times, immediately hearing shuffles from inside.

Rose yelled without opening the door, "Go away, Emmett!"

I chuckled, knocking again.

"What in the flying monkey nuts do you want?" She shouted, swinging open the massive door. Anger melted into happiness as she grabbed for me, hugging me tight. "Oh, I can't believe you're here! Why didn't you call me?"

I breathed in her familiar scent, then took a step back. "I wanted to surprise you."

She smiled, then looked over my shoulder at the U-Haul. "Ooh, let me get Jazz so we can unpack." She leaned into the house, bracing her hand against the side of her mouth. "Jasper! Get down here!"

I stepped into my new home, feeling immediately at peace with the dark decor and wide open spaces. Moments later, Jasper literally slid in on his white socks, dressed down in a raggedy band shirt and smiley face boxers.

"Bells!" He shouted, just like his twin sister, and ran for me, slipping and sliding against the dark wood floor. He hugged me, then twirled me around like a ballerina. He was the more fun of the two. "Finally! I don't have to deal with Rose alone anymore."

Rose punched her twin in the arm, and I shook my head at their silly antics. Once he'd gotten over the sheer pain of Rosalie's fist, he sang, "Let's move some boxes!" He then danced down the front steps and over to my car.

Rose wrapped her arm around my shoulders as we walked down the steps and over to a hollering Jasper. "Welcome home," she said.

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My bedroom was on the second floor, while Jasper and Rose's bedrooms were on opposite sides of the ground floor. Our third story had been converted into an art space, complete with rampant pens, a mess of paper, and paintbrushes sticking out of odd places - a tower of video games occupied one corner with the Xbox in another.

I had decided to leave my walls white, so with my fluffy white bed linens and comforter, as well as the white furniture I'd taken along, it was my own little nirvana. After unpacking all of my boxes and suitcases, my closet was stuffed full of clothes, on top of the loaded dressers. It was around dinner time that everything of mine had been put in its new, rightful place, and I was starving.

"What do you want to do for dinner?" Rose asked, joining Jasper on my heaven bed.

I shrugged. "Don't ask me."

Jasper's hands came together in a loud clap as he sprang up. "There's a new Chinese place near the library. Alice said it's good."

Rose rolled her eyes, but got up from my bed.

"Who's Alice?" I asked in amusement.

"Jasper's fuck buddy," Rose muttered.

"Hey!" Jasper said with a mock hurt expression. "She's not just my fuck buddy." There was a long pause. "We also have Antebellum Art History together."

Rose and I simultaneously snorted, and she followed Jasper out of my room and down the stairs. I quickly changed into a pair of jean shorts and threw on a tank top, racing down to meet them. Jasper now had pants on, and Rose was furiously texting on her phone.

"Who's Speedy talking to?" I asked Jasper as he locked up the house. Rose was already down by her car, still typing away on her phone.

"Emmett," he whispered conspiratorially. "On the outside she's a bitch to him, but I think she secretly loves his attention."

I raised my brows. "Scandalous."

"Of course, darling," he agreed, putting on a British accent.

"I missed you fools," I sighed, leaning into his shoulder.

He squeezed me. "I missed you, too...more than Rose probably."

"I heard that, fucker," Rose muttered as she slipped into the passenger side of her car. "Here, Bells. Drive." She threw me her car keys as Jasper pouted and climbed into the back.

It only took a few minutes to get to the Chinese place. The inside was decorated with oriental memorabilia, with several random fish tanks propped around.

"Is that...Alice?" Rose asked quietly.

Jasper looked around, zeroing in on the corner where a blonde girl sat with a now-staring small, dark-haired girl. "Oh, yeah," he said, clearly surprised. "Let's go say hey."

"Ugh, let's not," Rose mumbled when Jasper walked away.

I chuckled. "Be nice, Ro." I hooked my arm through hers and led her toward the counter to order.

Once we'd ordered, we took a table clear across the restaurant from Jasper's f-buddy.

"So, who's Emmett?" I blurted out.

Rose's baby blues rolled in her head. "This annoying fucktard who cannot take a hint."

I smiled, secretly loving that her aggravation was coming out to play.

"Bells, the dude has seriously asked me out fourteen times already. This week!" Her hands flew up in anger. "You know I'm usually nice to everyone, but Emmett. God! He rakes my nerves."

"And Alice," I added.

"I don't really have a problem with Alice," she admitted. "However, I do have a problem hearing my brother banging some chick in our _shared_ art room."

I grimaced. "Ugh."

"Right?"

Our food came shortly after, and Jasper joined us with his own plate. He warned Rose to be nice when Alice came over to the table, and we enjoyed our dinner with them regaling me with gossip about everyone in the sophomore, junior, and senior classes. Rose and Jasper were sophomores like me. Just as Rose got up to dump our trash, Alice skipped over, her blonde friend in tow.

Up close, she was very pretty. Dark hair, grey eyes, olive skin, and a funky dress. "Hello," she trilled. "I'm Alice." She stuck her hand out, grabbing mine to shake it.

"Bella," I informed her.

"I've heard so much about you from Jasper," she gushed sincerely. "You're much prettier than he portrayed you though."

I smirked, looking to Jasper whose face was morphed in a cheesy smile. "Ass kisser."

He stuck his lip in a pout and Alice laughed. "I like you," she said. "I think we're going to get along great." Her attention switched and her smile grew. "Hey, Rose!"

Rose did a half-wave and forced an answering smile. "Hey, Alice."

"You remember Chelsea, right?" Alice asked, gesturing to the blonde girl.

"Yeah."

"Well, what are you guys up to now?" Alice wondered, taking a seat beside Jasper. Chelsea lingered near her.

Jasper looked at both me and Rose. "I don't know," he shrugged. "Bella literally just got here a few hours ago, and we came to eat once she unpacked."

"Well, there's a Halo tournament in the Student Center in about..." She checked her gold watch. "Twenty minutes. Want to join?"

I observed Jasper's dick's love interest. There was no wonder they had gravitated toward each other. They were both wildly eccentric, with mild tendencies of ADD, and interests of art and video games. She was perfect for him.

"Can we?" Jasper pleaded like an eight-year old.

I shrugged, waiting for Rose to respond. She huffed, clearly disliking the idea. "Fine. But if Emmett's there, I'm out."

Jasper opted to ride with Alice and Chelsea, so that left the car to me and Rose. Once we'd buckled in and started following the hot pink Volkswagen Bug, I turned to Rose.

"She's quite a handful, isn't she?"

"Oh, yes," she drawled with her slight Texas twang. "And them two together, _especially _when they're wasted or high...it's a freaking circus."

I chuckled, imagining the scene. "You need to lighten up, Ro."

"Psh."

"You need to get laid," I teased. She ignored me and looked out the window. "Maybe Emmett can help."

She snorted. "I'd sooner fuck my high school Trig teacher. And I'm pretty sure he had Syphilis."

I smiled, enjoying the banter I'd missed so much. The night of video games didn't turn out to be so bad. Even Rose joined in and had some fun, laughing and joking around with everyone. I mostly sat back and observed, as I liked to do. For the first time in months, I didn't feel so conflicted and half-there. Watching Jasper chug Mountain Dew while Rose tickled his sides, I finally felt at home.

Alice came up to me when Jasper was held in a particularly compromising position, with Rose going crazy at his ribs with clawed hands.

"You're lucky," she said to me.

"Why's that?" I asked back, still watching my cousins in delight.

"Jasper loves you a lot. Rose, too, I can tell. You're all they've been talking about for months on end."

"Yeah," I smiled small, "I guess I like them, too."

She giggled. "So, you transferred from Harvard then?"

I nodded.

"Jasper's always going on and on about how smart his cousin is...I think he's secretly obsessed with you," she quietly teased.

I snorted. "Not secretly. When we were 8, he followed me and Rose _everywhere..._she and I went through a Lisa Frank stage and the boy wouldn't stop stealing Rose's tutus just to fit in with us."

She laughed out loud, enjoying my story. I could tell in the way she looked at Jasper she liked him as more than just a 'fuck buddy'. Just then, Chelsea came skipping over with the cheesiest grin on her face. She held her phone in her hands as if it was a baby. "Alice, oh my God! Guess what!"

"What?" Alice asked, going on.

"Look who just texted me, and look what he put!" She held the phone in front of Alice's face. "He put a smiley! A smiley face, can you believe it?"

Like a good friend, Alice placated the hyper girl and her far out personality, patting Chelsea's hand in support. "That's great, Chels. You better text him back, and stop talking to me then."

"Right," Chelsea agreed, skipping away.

"Does that _'He' _have two magical 8 balls dangling from his taint or something?" I asked dryly.

Right at that moment, Alice spit out the Coke she was drinking, simultaneously coughing and laughing. "Damn, Bella," she sputtered.

"Sorry," I chuckled.

When she calmed, she answered. "He's just this guy Chelsea's obsessed with. He's really sweet and they've been friends since the beginning of last year, but she's always liked him."

"They aren't dating?" I questioned, totally freaked out by Chelsea's bizarre overreaction to someone she wasn't romantically involved with.

"No," Alice confirmed. "I guess you could _maybe_ say they're 'talking'," she emphasized with finger quotations, "but not even that really. All they ever really do is hang out in large groups and occasionally grab lunch together."

"Hm," I hummed, my interest grabbed my Jasper's holler of defeat. "Alright, hoodlums, let's go home. You've embarrassed me enough for one night."

Everyone agreed, and we broke off into separate groups as we said good night. We got home fairly quick and parked just a few spots down from our brownstone. Just as we all got out of the car, Rose's name was called out. A boy of average height with sandy brown hair came jogging over, with a backpack hanging from his right shoulder.

"Hey, Jared," Rose answered back. "What are you up to?"

"Just got done with Bio lab," he replied. "Who's this?"

"Oh, sorry. This is my cousin, Bella. Bella, this is my friend, Jared. He lives a few houses down." She pointed to the brownstone exactly three down from ours.

"I have the bird flu," I said as he reached out to shake my hand.

"What?" Jared asked, an appalled look on his face.

"No, she doesn't," Rose muttered, shooting a glaring look at me and Jasper, who was snickering behind his hand. "Grow up, you two."

Jared shook his head and continued talking to Rosalie. "Hey, so," he started, "I was wondering if you wanted to go to dinner sometime?"

Jasper and I looked at each other awkwardly, quietly walking away and waiting at the stoop for Rose. She talked to Jared for a few more minutes, ending their conversation with a hug, and then joined us. She had a nice, surprised smile on her face until we reached the top of our stairs and saw what was waiting before the front door.

She picked up the large bouquet of red roses, muttering when she read the card.

"Who're they from?" I asked, craning my head to read over her shoulder.

"Well, _Ms. __Bird Flu_," she gave me a sharp, disapproving glare, "they're from Emmett." Jasper laughed fully in entertainment while I strained to hear what she recited from the card, "_What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."_

I couldn't help but find this whole situation disturbingly hilarious. Rose had just been asked out by our neighbor, and came home to a bouquet of flowers from another hopeful guy looking to win her affection. This was sure to be an interesting year.

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**Tit for tat: Review and you get ALICE's POV**

**and you'll see who Chelsea was texting! :O**


	3. Chapter 3

Because I exercise poor self-control (and this chapter's a little short), I decided to upload early. Chapter 4, in which Edward will first be introduced, will be uploaded on Wednesday!

I've said this before, but this Bella is significantly different than the characters I've written before. There will be drug usage in the story; its presence is pertinent to the storyline...trust me.

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_**Bella**_

I had a newfound hatred for Tanya Denali, Student Government President. She hadn't personally done anything to me, but her put on, cheery persona was like a serrated knife to my dwindling patience. Her voice was too high, her tone too excited, her smile too wide to just be waxing 'safe partying tips' to a group of new students.

The transfer student seminar was mandatory, much to my utter dismay, and strictly banned guests, which disabled me from forcing Jasper or Rose to come along. Even the two other student government officials, the vice-president and secretary, seemed bored and put out by Tanya as they slumped over in their chairs at her flanks.

When the hour of useless information was up, everyone hurriedly gathered their belongings and bolted as if she might pull us back in for more 'clean campus party ideas'. My first act of freedom outside of the auditorium was pulling out a cigarette.

"God damn it." The voice was low and belonged to the boy introduced as Tanya's second-in-command, the vice-president. I recalled his name was Ben. His hands searched his front and back pockets furiously, stirring up empathetic recognition within me.

"Need a cigarette?" I asked.

He noticed me then as he lifted his head; he had light blonde hair beneath his beanie and wore hipster glasses. "That'd be awesome," he said gratefully. I fished out my pack, handing it over. He pulled one out as I gave over my Zippo. "Damn, that's good," he sighed. "You're a lifesaver."

"Hardly," I retorted. "I needed one just as much as you." I held up my own burning Camel.

"So you're a transfer then," he noted.

"That I am."

"Where from?" He asked.

"Harvard," I answered.

He whistled. "Why'd you leave?"

I shrugged, smoking more. "Needed a change."

He nodded in understanding. "What's your name?"

"Bella."

"Well, Bella, I feel obligated to apologize on Tanya's behalf for the most boring seminar in the university's history."

I smiled. "Apology accepted."

"However, now come to think of it, when I transferred in two years ago, halfway through my freshman year, I can remember it being just as boring. Tanya's older sister, Kate, was President back then."

"Maybe it's a Denali shortcoming then," I supplied.

He chuckled, agreeing. "Maybe so."

After a moment of silence, I added. "You don't strike me as the Student Government type. No offense."

"None taken. Vice-Presidency has its perks," he assured me. "For instance, I get reserved parking in the student lot, free coffee at the campus cafe, and all my meals are comped."

"Nice," I replied appreciatively.

"Tanya hasn't always been this uptight," he said to me, looking back at the auditorium. "Believe or not, that girl could once bong with the best of us."

"You smoke?" I asked, lowering my voice.

He lifted his brows, smiling, but said nothing else.

My interest was piqued. "Do you know where I could get any weed around here?"

Ben studied me, casting surreptitious glances at our sides. "Yeah, I can get you some. How much do you need?"

I shrugged. "Enough for a couple of joints I guess."

"Here," he said, pulling out his phone. "Give me your number. I'll hit you up when I'm holding."

I quickly entered in my number and handed over his phone. He finished up his borrowed cigarette and threw it to the ground, taking out his car keys. As he backed away slowly, he said, "You don't strike me as the type to do drugs."

I smirked and quoted, "_I don't do drugs. I am drugs_."

His cheeks stretched into a surprised grin and he pointed at me, gaining closer to a Silverado. "You're a fun one. I can tell."

He was gone after that, leaving me alone in the parking lot. As I got in my car, driving home, I couldn't help but smile. My life in Chicago just got a little bit more promising.

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**Tit for tat: Review and you get Ben's POV**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Bella**_

Muggy rainfall and symptoms of a raging headache were my alarm clock for the first day of my sophomore year. My previous night had been spent skimming verses of the Italian edition of Dracula while chain-smoking cigarettes and occasionally cutting up old t-shirts. Eventually my bedroom had become so hazy that I could barely make out the words on the pages and the burnt smell clung to my skin. I retired to bed at four, stark naked, window wide open, with the calming tones of Debussy to sing me to sleep.

My first class to start the year off was Molecular Neurobiology at noon designated for Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I left my bedroom window open to cleanse out the cigarette smell and ignored Rose's offer of coffee, sulking off in leggings and a flannel, clouded by an umbrella.

Navigating the student parking lot was a lot more difficult than I had anticipated. Mostly my fellow peers were morons, taking too long to back out of their spots, and being indecisive about whether to turn right or left. I eventually tired of their antics, and swerved around the building, illegally parking in the faculty lot. I enjoyed my slow walk across the campus, admiring the gothic beauty of the buildings as I trekked my way through the sea of umbrellas and upturned hoodies to Classroom 1280.

I found my destination just as a group of boys excitedly ran ahead of me, laughing as they entered the open doorway. They will have failed out by the second test, I was sure. Classroom 1280 was a stadium-seated lecture hall with more than 40 students already in attendance, their jittery hands and meaningless chattering ceasing once I entered. I ignored the attention I received well, blocking out their existences easily enough; they meant nothing to me, and I wasn't out to make friends anyway.

I chose a seat up front, making myself one out of the only two people that had decided to choose location over the hottest gossip section. A few girls up and to my left could be heard recounting their wild time at a 'Welcome Back' frat party the prior night with no regard for noise level; I dialed down my cringe when one seemed particularly interested in reporting her 'awesome grinding with the frat prez'. A throat cleared near them, however closer to me, but I ignored it, hoping it didn't turn into a full fledged cough come lecture time.

That hope was squashed almost immediately.

"Hey, um, excuse me?"

I kept my head still, despite my involuntary response to want to turn toward the noise.

Another throat clear rang out, and the voice followed with, "Excuse me…"

This time I looked, almost barely and just a peek over my shoulder at the distraction. A boy sat there, staring at me, his face lifting into a smile when I granted him my eye contact.

"Hey," he said at me.

I groaned out loud, already fed up with our yet begun conversation. I substituted a reply with raised brows.

"Do you have a pencil I could borrow? I forgot to bring one," he said, attempting a sheepish smile.

I stared at him evenly, refusing to believe he had bothered me for solely a writing utensil. The stranger sat two rows above me, and a bright yellow pencil lay atop the unoccupied desk next to him.

"There's a pencil right there," I said, tilting my head toward said empty desk and swiveling back to face the front.

"But," he objected, "that's not mine."

I turned, fully facing him then, putting on a straight face. "Then _make_ it yours," I grounded out.

The boy seemed genuinely confused by my reaction – or lack thereof – to his advances. "Are you a lesbian?" He asked, mostly likely trying to come up with an excuse as to why I was not drooling for his attention.

I scoffed. "No, but I can make _you_ one in about three seconds flat if you don't shut the fuck up and leave me alone."

"Good morning, class!"

I pivoted, taking in the tall blonde man that strode in. He was nicely made up in a light blue oxford shirt and grey slacks, his light hair gelled back classically. He set down his leather briefcase and shed his coat before addressing us.

"My name is Carlisle Cullen and I will be your Neurobiology professor for the semester. I'd like to tell you a little about myself before I hand out the syllabuses." He walked to the whiteboard as he continued to speak. "I don't mind being addressed as Carlisle or Mr. Cullen, or any shortening of the name as you wish…under appropriate circumstances," he added, taking a look at the few rowdy boys near the back.

"I am a Neurosurgeon under Northwestern Memorial Hospital. I teach one class during the week – this one obviously – and the rest of the week I am a full time doctor."

"Are you married?" A brave female voice called out.

While chuckles sounded out, Dr. Cullen smiled along. "No, I am not."

He carried on to hand out future lab rules and regulations, quickly went over the short syllabus he handed out, and then so graciously allowed us free. "I expect to see you all Wednesday, ready for notes," he said, closing up his briefcase.

I slung my vintage messenger bag over my shoulder and stood, narrowly missing the hasty exit of the chatty idiot from the beginning of class, as well as the party girls. I didn't have another class until 3, so I made sure to calm down my ire at the snail speed of my classmates as they congealed into a crowd at the only exit.

A touch to my left shoulder surprised me. I looked beside me, met with the exotic eyes of a boy. His face seemed genuine as he gave me a small smile.

"Yes?" I asked as politely as I could muster.

He ducked his head, chuckling softly. "I just wanted to say sorry for Paul earlier. He's sort of an ass because the freshman girls usually swoon at the fact he's in Alpha Delt."

"Paul's a douche bag name," I retorted dryly.

The boy looked at me for two seconds before allowing a loud laugh escape. "You're so right."

I wasn't sure of this new stranger's intentions, so I remained impassive. "Anyway, don't apologize on his behalf. If he's moronic enough to think that I care about the Greek symbols he pays for, he has another thing coming." A pause was filled before I added, "And I'm not a freshman."

"Oh, sorry," he said immediately, raking his hand through his metallic tinted hair. "I've never seen you around campus before so I assumed…"

"You know what they say about assuming," I said, staring straight forward at my rowdy peers. For no reason other than the fact that the exiting line was still slow and long, I threw the stranger a bone of information. "I'm a sophomore transfer."

He took this as invitation to pursue our conversation deeper. "Oh, really, from where?"

"Massachusetts - Harvard University."

"Wow," he whistled appreciatively. "So, you're pretty smart then?"

I snorted softly, looking ahead once more as we moved up in line. "You could say that."

The pathway to release was so close as he shrugged his backpack higher up on to his shoulders. "Why'd you transfer out?" He asked, seemingly curious. Like everyone else, he was probably wondering why anyone who had gotten into the most prestigious school in the country would want to leave.

"It was the right place for me," I answered.

"It _was _the right place?" He pushed, his tone puzzled.

I didn't quench his confusion immediately, but pushed my way through the exit, smiling when I saw the rays of sun peeling back the dark clouds. I fished out my Prada sunglasses, sliding them on. Then I faced the stranger, shrugging. "_I like to be the right thing in the wrong place and the wrong thing in the right place because something interesting always happens._"

And then I walked away, with a growling stomach and not a second thought of odd boys.

* * *

**TIT FOR TAT: Review and you get EDWARD'S POV**

**Next update: Sunday the 16th**


	5. Chapter 5

_**Bella**_

My Tuesdays were dedicated to Literature-Based Research. By chance of luck, Jasper also had the same course and time so while Rose pouted her way to Spanish, Jasper and I leisurely strolled with linked arms toward class. We stopped by Starbucks on the way before finding our way to the small, cozy classroom in the library.

We took seats in the back and lounged while waiting for class to start.

"Did I tell you Alice is in this class?" He wondered while sipping his gay frappuccino.

"No, Elton John, you didn't," I laughed, wiping away the whipped cream that had somehow managed to find its way onto his forehead. "Is that why you wore your fancy boxers today?"

He looked down to the giant hole in his jeans that revealed his heart-patterned underwear. "Maybe so," he said primly.

"Speak of the Devil..." I mumbled as Alice skipped in, all bright smiles and neon pink.

"Hey, guys," she sang as she took the seat beside Jasper. "This is gonna be a great semester. I just know it!"

It was a few more minutes before our professor, Mrs. Cope, came in. She was rather large with red hair and a kind smile. She was in the middle of gently explaining her rules on punctuality when the door opened. The boy with the exotic eyes from my Neurobiology class stood in the entryway, sort of shell-shocked with pink cheeks and an embarrassed smile.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Cope. I got held up in lab," he hurriedly explained.

Mrs. Cope smiled, waving him in. "No problem, Edward. Take a seat."

He took one right in front of Mrs. Cope's desk, slouching down in humiliation. I smirked when his fingers tugged at his hair in a seemingly frustrated move. After the expectations had been thoroughly explained, Mrs. Cope went on to take attendance. I got sick enjoyment out of the way Edward shyly raised his hand when Mrs. Cope announced his full name - Edward Masen; he was like a small puppy, so timid and cute.

As if he could feel my stare, he turned, locking eyes with me. I could tell he was immediately taken aback by seeing me again, but before I knew it, he was smiling lightly in surprise. He turned when Mrs. Cope addressed the whole class again, reciting page numbers to read for homework. After that, we were released with a pleasant goodbye.

Alice was quick to get out of her seat, skipping right up to Edward. I was for a moment confused before I attributed her recognition over them already knowing each other. I was ready to walk out of the door and go home, but Jasper had other ideas, pulling me toward a chattery Alice and a listening Edward.

"Jasper, do you know Edward?" Alice trilled when we were near.

Jasper nodded his head. "Yeah, we had Greek History last Spring, right?"

Edward nodded, his eyes quickly flicking to me before looking back at Alice.

"This is Jasper's cousin, Bella. She just transferred here from-."

"Harvard, right?" Edward quietly interrupted.

"You two know each other?" Alice asked, confused.

"We have Molecular Neurobiology together," I supplied. "We met yesterday."

"Blech, sounds _boring_! But at least you two are hot nerds," Alice giggled. I noticed the subtle way she reached for Jasper's cupped hand. "Well, we were just about to head to the Student Cafe to get some lunch."

"We were?" I muttered, looking hopefully at the exit.

Alice ignored me. "Want to come, Edward?"

Edward flicked his pretty eyes at me again before nodding. "Yeah, that sounds good."

Most of the walk was filled with Alice's hyperactive clacking and me wishing that Rose was around to entertain me. My only saving grace was my literal rearview of Edward in his jeans that were hanging off his hips just enough to allow a peak of his plain grey boxer briefs that hugged the swell of his ass cheeks. The student cafe was mildly busy when we arrived. I grabbed a pre-packaged sandwich from the open refrigerated display and went up to the counter to pay.

"Fancy seeing you here."

I recognized the voice from a few days prior. "Hey, Ben," I smiled.

He stood against the counter with a meal ticket in one hand and a brand new textbook in the other. "What are you up to?" He asked.

"Just left class actually," I replied. It was then that I really took notice of the book in his hand. "Is that a Molecular Neuro book?" I asked.

His look was surprised. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

"I'm in that class with Dr. Cullen. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 12."

"Me, too," he said excitedly. "I just switched in from Anatomy. At least I'll know someone in there," he said, almost getting cut off by an excited Jasper.

Jasper ran up to me, holding up a Saran-wrapped glazed donut. "It's in the shape of a C...for Chicago!"

I rolled my eyes, seeing Alice and Edward come closer to us. "You're getting jipped that way," I told him.

"How so?" Jasper challenged me.

"They cut off a major portion of the donut to make the C, then inflated the original price under the terms of being novelty," I pointed out.

"Whatever," he mumbled, sulking off. Alice was quick to follow him, but Edward left a lingering gaze past my shoulder.

I turned back to Ben, giving him an embarrassed look. "My own flesh and blood," I muttered.

He chuckled. "Was that your brother?"

"My cousin," I corrected.

"Ah," he said. "Well, hey um, I was gonna text you later actually."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," he said. "There's a party this Saturday at my friend's house. It's supposed to be pretty good and I'm," his voice dropped down, "picking up some _stuff_."

I grinned, my outlook for the weekend looking up. "Sounds good."

He entered his own number into my phone, then said, "Just text me your address and I'll pick you up around 9 Saturday night?"

"Sure thing."

Ben's order was called right after our chat and he left with a 'see you later'. I joined Alice, Jasper, and Edward at a booth by the window, sliding in beside Edward.

"How do you know Ben Cheney?" Alice asked as she popped a grape in her mouth.

"He was at the transfer student seminar I was obligated to go to."

"He's in Student Government right?" Edward asked.

I nodded.

"So you're friends?" Alice wondered.

I shrugged. "I guess. We exchanged numbers and stuff."

Alice's face morphed into excitement. "Aw, do you have a crush on him?"

I cocked my head in confusion. "Since when does exchanging numbers spell out attraction?"

She dodged my question. "Are you gonna date?"

I chuckled humorlessly. "Nope."

"Why not?" She pouted.

"I don't know," I said, growing restless of our back and forth. "He's cute, but I like him as a friend for other reasons."

"And what reasons would those be?" Jasper asked nosily.

"None that are any of your business," I quipped, finally biting into my sandwich.

"I heard he's into drugs," Edward finally spoke up.

"Really?" Alice asked, enthralled at the juicy gossip. "Better be careful, Bella."

"Why? I'm not scared of a little plant and fire."

"I'm sure he's into harder stuff than weed," she fired back.

I shrugged, looking forward to my weekend. "_Anything that gets your blood racing is probably worth doing_."

* * *

**Tit for tat: Review and you'll get Edward's POV**


	6. Chapter 6

If you haven't received an alternate POV you've reviewed for, go back and make sure you were signed in. I've had several reviews left Anonymous, and obviously I can't find out the actual sender.

* * *

_**Bella**_

My eyes a kaleidoscope of brands, colors, and styles, I walked through the nearby mall. Store after store, I spent most of Saturday's daylight perusing for an outfit for the party. It was my first immoral shindig of self-indulgence for the school year, and I figured it necessitated a special outfit. And what better way to begin with a bang than with brand new clothes?

I was gliding my fingers over a rack of shirts when my name was called. I swiveled.

Dressed down in jeans and a multicolored paint-smeared t-shirt, Alice slinked over to me, atypically mellow. "What are you doing here?" She asked with a small grin, hoisting her many shopping bags up her arms.

"Trying to find an outfit for tonight. There's this party..."

"At Laurence Peter's house?"

"I have no idea," I shrugged. "Ben invited me."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's Laurence's party. That's why I'm here, too...first party of the year and all, you want to look cute."

I smiled in surprise. "Exactly my philosophy."

"Have you eaten lunch yet?" She asked. "I'm hungry and my arms need a break."

"Sure," I accepted, bored with the store we were in anyway. "Why don't you just put those in your car?" I suggested, nodding toward her five bags of what seemed to be shoes, perfume, and makeup.

"I would," she answered, "but I took the train here."

"Come on," I said, steering us toward the parking garage. "You can put them in my car and I'll give you a ride later."

After we deposited Alice's purchases in the trunk of my Mercedes, we went to the food court. We both grabbed some pizza and drinks, finding a table near the entrance window.

"Is Jasper coming tonight?" She asked, uncharacteristically shy.

I smirked. "I was planning on asking him to come along." She nodded, biting into her pizza. "But..." I added.

"But what?"

"If you were to ask him first, I'm sure he'd be more inclined to go."

She grinned at me, staring beneath her lashes. "You're a devious one."

I shrugged nonchalantly. "So I've heard."

She giggled. "So anything new on the Ben Cheney front?"

Rolling my eyes, I said, "No. And there never will be."

"Hmph," she mumbled. "Well I'm sure a certain Edward would be happy about that news."

"Why's that?" I questioned.

"To have been Ivy League, you're quite dense about some things," she noticed. I cocked my head for her to continue. "Edward totally has a crush on you."

"He doesn't," I uttered back.

"He does, too. He was basically staring at you the entire time you were talking to Ben in the student cafe, plus he seemed irrationally pleased when you said nothing was going on with you and Ben."

"Your eyes are playing tricks on you," I told her. "Perhaps you should get them checked."

"Whatever," she said flippantly. "You'll see, and then I'll be able to say I told you so."

The rest of lunch was finished quickly and we were back on our shopping hunt. We started out in Victoria's Secret, with Alice finding cute lingerie, and moved down the line until we reached a vintage, second-hand boutique full of hidden treasures.

"Wow," Alice admired, staring in love at the double-decker racks of vintage clothing.

"Good thing we still have five hours before Ben picks me up. I could spend forever in here."

"Well," Alice rubbed her hands together, "let's get started."

We spent two hours hunting through tops, bottoms, shoes, and dresses. I found myself carefree, smiling along with Alice as we tried on particularly horrendous pieces now and again. Just as I was about to give up hope and just borrow something from Rose, Alice ran over to me.

"This is so you," she said, holding out her find.

She was so right. It was a black bondage skirt with a lace-up front and elastic garter straps hanging from the front and back - very 'come hither'esque. "It's perfect," I agreed.

"And you could just wear it with a plain tank top," she added.

"Let me try it on." I did so quickly and was amazed at the results, as was Alice. It hugged the curve of my ass, fitting snug to my thighs, ending about five inches above my knee.

I purchased my skirt and Alice bought a cute red and black colorblock dress before heading back to my car. Instead of dropping her off at home, she opted to come back to the brownstone to get ready with me. Rose was on her date with Jared so there was no risk of the two girls clashing, even though I had a plan to amend that situation soon. I didn't like very many people, but Alice was a rare one, and I needed her to be in good graces with Rose.

When we arrived, Jasper was laid out on the stoop, playing his old Gameboy. He perked up when he saw who was with me, almost choking on the gummy bears he was swallowing down.

"Hey, Alice. What are you doing here?"

"Just got done shopping with Bella," she chirped, skipping forward to kiss his cheek.

"We ran into each other at the mall," I informed him. "Listen, Jazz, we're going to a party tonight. Want to join?"

"Hell yeah!" He said excitedly.

"Go shower then. You stink."

He quickly gave me a noogie, running away before I could beat his ass. Alice followed me up to my bedroom, turning on some dance music, and dumped her purchases along the hardwood floor. With her new makeup, she put on a face of innocence with light sparkly eyeshadow and pink cheeks. She voted herself as Makeup Artist, and smoked up my eyes with a midnight blue color, finishing it off with black eyeliner and mascara. Afterward she spiked up her hair into a halo of disarray and curled messy waves into mine.

I picked out a simple black tank top, tucking it into my new-vintage black garter skirt. I finished off my ensemble with black platform ankle boots, and Alice donned chunky red heels she'd bought from the mall. It wasn't long before Ben was texting me that he was on his way.

We then convened downstairs where Jasper was lining up shots of Vodka. I ignored his gushy compliments of how beautiful Alice looked and downed two shots in a row. I was happily warm when the doorbell rang. I answered, only swaying slightly.

Ben stood there, his blonde hair free and shaggy, but his glasses still on. "Hey, Bella."

"Ben, you remember my cousin, Jasper." I gestured to my silly-drunk cousin behind me. "And this is Alice." I turned back to Ben. "Do you mind if they come with us?"

He shook his head. "No problem. Good thing I have a truck," he joked. "Ready to go?"

* * *

**Tit for tat: Review and you'll get Alice's POV**

**AND a picture of Bella's party outfit!**


	7. Chapter 7

I'm updating this early because my laptop is going in the shop.

* * *

_**Bella**_

After I locked up, we all piled into Ben's truck - Jasper and Alice in the back, with me and Ben up front.

"Whose party are we going to?" I asked as we sped away from our neighborhood, remembering my and Alice's earlier conversation.

Ben adjusted the classic rock station to a low level as he answered. "This dude, Laurence. He's a music major at the university, and has his own band."

"Told ya!" Alice piped from the backseat.

Ben's phone suddenly went off, ringing from the cup holder. "Pick that up, would you?" He asked distractedly as he pulled onto a wildly busy intersection.

I answered the ringing phone. "Hello?"

The voice on the other end was gravelly and masculine, a testament of festive excess. "Uh, who's this?"

"This is Ben's phone," I clarified, not revealing my name.

"Oh, okay then," the voice said. "Anyway, where is he?"

"Right beside me," I answered.

"Tell him Liam wants to know where he is."

I rolled my eyes at the ordering tone, but held the phone away from my face and said to Ben, "Liam wants to know where you are."

"Tell that fucker we'll be there in 5."

"We're five minutes away," I said into the phone.

"Alright...well, thanks?" His awkward goodbye was met with my finger hitting the end call button.

"Sorry about that," Ben muttered. "Liam's a bit out there."

"No worries," I replied.

"He's actually the drummer in Laurence's band."

"I think I know him," Jasper contributed from the back. "Pretty tall, longish hair?"

"That's him," Ben confirmed.

Five minutes later, we were pulling up to a crowded street; the party was practically emanating from one house in particular. It was modestly sized, one story, and set back on a small hill. People loitered in the front yard, armed with red solo cups, clumped into groups of three and four. Ben parked down the street, and we walked up to the house, going in through the garage door. We immediately stepped into the very crowded kitchen, its main appeal the huge keg set up on the island.

"Ben, what's going on?" A deep-tanned guy with dirty blonde hair slapped Ben on the back.

"Hey, man," Ben replied. "Laurence, this is Bella, Alice, and Jasper. Guys, this is Laurence, party host."

"Hello, beautiful," he purred teasingly at me. I simply chuckled and said hello back. "Well," Laurence said, "help yourselves to some alcohol. Pool table's in the basement, and the dance floor's in the living room."

"Good deal, man," Ben shouted as a particularly deep, rumbling song was turned on. We proceeded to fill our cups with cold beer, and mingled amongst our fellow party patrons.

"Hey," Ben said, stepping closer to talk in my ear. "I'm going to find Liam. He's hooking me up tonight. Want to come?"

I nodded, turning to Jasper and Alice. "Hey," I said, snapping my fingers. That gained their attention and I continued. "I'm going with Ben to find his friend."

"We're going to dance," Alice trilled, already pulling Jasper away toward the living room.

"Go," I said, shooing. "I'll find you guys later."

They smiled, and pushed away. I followed Ben into the back of the house, down a hallway with only a few stragglers. We walked up to a closed bedroom door labeled 'Keep Out' with barricade tape. He knocked a few times before the door flew open to reveal whom I would soon be acquainted with as Liam.

He was extremely tall at 6' 4" with ice blue eyes and dark brown hair that came down to his shoulders a la Dave Grohl circa 1991. A joint hung from his full lips, and a black t-shirt and jeans hung from his lanky frame. All in all, he had my attention.

"Hey, Ben," he greeted, staring at me the entire time.

"Hey, this is Bella," Ben introduced me, brushing past Liam into the room.

"What's up," Liam mumbled, still staring, his eyes roving over the bare skin between my skirt and boots.

"Hey," I replied, distractedly interested in his grungy style and Devil-may-care presence.

He gestured me in and I caught a whiff of the weed odor he wore. I sat in the empty computer chair, taking in the clean yet dirty bedroom of a made bed and piles of wrinkled clothes.

"You picking up?" Liam asked, pulling out a wooden box from beneath the full-sized bed.

"Yep," Ben answered.

Liam pulled out three separate bags, two of weed, and one with pills.

"Here, Bella. This is yours," Ben said, handing me the smaller of the two weed bags.

I stuffed the bag into my bra, watching as Ben handed Liam a stack of money.

"I haven't seen you around before," Liam said as he lit up his joint.

"That's because I transferred," I supplied.

"Where from?" He asked.

"Massachusetts actually. Harvard."

"I like a girl with brains," Liam told me, smirking.

"I like a guy who knows how to share."

Liam's smirk widened as he brought the joint to my lips. Just then, the door flew open and Laurence walked in, his arm draped over a pretty fire-haired girl.

"Hey, man, we need more beer."

Liam shrugged. "What do you want me to do about it?"

"Go out and get more," Laurence said impatiently. "It's your turn this week."

Liam huffed, but started to gather his stuff. Ben offered to ride with him and I declined, leaving to go find Jasper and Alice. It was difficult to find anything in the crowded house, the dancing crowd pulsating and falling in on me with every step I took. Just when I was about to say fuck it and interrupt Rose's date with Jared for her to come get me, I made it to the corner where it was less populated.

"Hey, Bella!"

Chelsea stood there in a shirt and jeans, a bottled beer in hand. What really surprised me was Edward standing beside her, staring at me.

"Hey, you guys," I said loudly, stepping closer to them.

"Bella, this is Edward Masen," Chelsea shouted, placing her hand on Edward's arm. I didn't miss the way he subtly stepped away.

"I know him," I said, shocking Chelsea. "We have two classes together."

"Oh," Chelsea said, downcast. I was intrigued by her sudden change of disposition.

Alice came dancing up then, with a goofy-grinning Jasper behind her. "You guys have to dance!" She yelled, still tipsy from our earlier shots.

"Not right now," I said back, enjoying the semi-peace we got from being in the corner.

"Did Ben find his friend?" Alice asked me.

I nodded.

"You came with Ben?" Edward said almost so quietly I couldn't hear him.

I looked into his eyes, gauging what I saw there. "Yep. Alice, Jasper, and I rode with him."

"Who's Ben?" Chelsea wondered obnoxiously, left out of the conversation.

"Vice-President Ben..." Alice said, obviously hoping to ring some bells.

"You know Benjamin Cheney?" Chelsea asked in wonderment.

"Yep," I said, unaware of what the big deal was. Sure he was a Junior, so in that respect I could maybe understand the awe that surrounded him, but he was a regular guy. My new friend with psychedelic connections sure, but a regular guy nonetheless.

"Lucky," Chelsea muttered.

"I'm going to get more beer. Anyone else wanna come?" I asked with a dry mouth.

To my surprise, everyone nodded and followed as I danced my way out of the crowd. Liam and Ben were loading up the new cases of beer just as we made it into the kitchen.

"Want one, Beautiful?" Liam's smooth-rough voice sent tingles down my arm as he handed over a bottle.

I took it from him, smiling. "Thank you."

"No problem," he grinned back.

It was quieter in the kitchen, allowing much easier and carefree conversation to go around. Alice had found a nice seat on the counter while Jasper stood protectively at her knees; Chelsea was watching me in awe, and Edward looked sort of uncomfortable.

"What are you doing next Thursday?" Liam asked me suddenly. Ben stood behind him, casting me subtle wags of his eyebrows like an immature 12-year old boy.

"No plans yet."

"My band's playing at a club nearby. You should come..."

"Maybe," I shrugged nonchalantly.

"Hard to get," he said, smiling. "I like that." Liam was soon cut off by a group of rowdy boys throwing punches and yelling, knocking over beer bottles and lamps left and right. Ben raced over to help while most of the house population circled around the fight or spilled into the yard to escape.

I fled outside, unimpressed by macho displays of testosterone and muscle. The night air cooled my overheated skin and left me restless. "I want to go home," I sighed.

"Bella," Alice whined. "We haven't even been here long."

"I can take you home."

I looked at Edward. "Haven't you been drinking?"

"I only drank a few sips," he said, holding up a mostly-full bottle. "Not even that."

Chelsea watched me with rageful, jealous eyes. "I'd appreciate that," I accepted.

"Chelsea, how'd you get here?" Jasper asked.

"Well, I drove..." She said.

"Alright, good. I'll have Rose come pick us up later then," Jasper said. Alice shooed me with wide eyes and an excited smile.

"Okay then. See you guys later."

I sent a quick text to Ben telling him goodbye, and followed closely beside Edward down the street. Everything was bathed in ugly yellow light from the streetlamps, and the road seemed damp from an earlier rainfall. Edward was quiet as we walked, his hands in his pockets.

"Are you okay, Edward?" I asked, wary of his quietness.

"Yeah, yeah," he assured me. "So, um, are you and that one guy..."

"Together?" I filled in. He nodded. "No, I actually just met Liam an hour or two ago."

"Oh," he mouthed, looking straight ahead.

"So are you and Miss Chelsea together?" I teased, bumping his shoulder with mine. A brief flicker of Alice talking about Chelsea's mystery man came to my mind, and I remembered the bizarre way Chelsea had overreacted about a text smiley.

"No, we are not," he said seriously. "We're friends, but I think she wants more."

"What was your first clue?" I joked.

"She's not my type," he muttered. "And unfortunately, I can't seem to let her down easy."

"You need to make some type of grand statement. I bet making out with someone else in front of her would do the job," I suggested.

"I don't want to hurt her feelings. That's wrong," he replied.

Shrugging, I recited, "_Right and wrong are convertible terms, dependent upon popular opinion."_ It was quiet for a pause before I wondered, "What is your type then?"

Edward's right cheek lifted in a half smile. "Intelligent, funny, beautiful."

"Chelsea's not _bad_ looking," I granted her.

"Chelsea's pretty," he agreed. "But she doesn't have that wow factor for me. I like a girl who can knock me off my feet with her face _and_ her mind."

"High standards," I noted. "Good luck finding that."

He looked at me from the corner of his eyes. "Not so hard to find, just hard to get."

* * *

**Tit for tat: Review and you get Chelsea's POV**


	8. Chapter 8

_**Bella**_

"Bella!" Jasper whooped as soon as I pushed through the front door.

I dropped my Neuro book, having just finished my Monday class, and entered the kitchen where he was mixing batter. A smear of chocolate icing was sliced across his right cheek.

"Yes, Rachael Ray?"

Jasper grinned, nodding toward my cell phone that lay atop the breakfast counter. "Your mom's been calling all morning."

Sighing, I dropped down onto a barstool. "Great," I muttered. Just as the word had left my lips, my phone began shimmying, blaring out a generic ringtone. I answered on the last possible ring. "Planned Parenthood. How may I help you?"

"Very funny, Isabella Marie," my mother retorted. "I've been calling for hours."

I picked at a fingernail as I cradled my cellphone between my ear and shoulder. "I do have class, you know. That's kind of the whole point of attending college."

"I always did love your sharp tongue," she mumbled sarcastically. "Anyways, your birthday is coming up soon, and your father and I were wondering what you'd like to do?"

"Nothing," I insisted.

"Not an acceptable answer," she pushed back. "We can take a plane out there, or we can fly you home that weekend."

"Or you could just mail me my presents," I suggested.

A noise in the background temporarily distracted my mother before she answered. "Whatever works, honey. Just let me know soon! I've got to go now, love you!"

"So what'd she say?" Jasper asked as I pulled the phone away from my face.

"She's having a sex change operation, and wanted my opinion on the matter."

"You should try to think of less extravagant lies," Jasper advised.

"Whatever," I shrugged. "Need help?"

He looked down at his mess of dirtied bowls, cupcake pans, and torn wrappers. "Sure," he accepted gracefully.

Dipping my finger in the open canister of chocolate icing, I smeared it across his other cheek, matching it to the right. "There. All done."

* * *

Two days later, the first thing my eyes focused on was the Playboy poster plastered to the ceiling, its top right corner curling out in defiance. The smell hit me next: orange incense. The bedroom door was wide open, and the walls were blue, decorated by several more posters of half-naked women and 80's bands.

A small red-haired girl lay face down in front of the flat screen TV in the corner, while another boy and girl were spooned at the foot of the California King bed. Beside me was Ben and a stranger brunette girl with funky glasses that were positioned halfway on her face.

I sat up, biting back the groan of discomfort that threatened me. I swung my legs around, hopping out of bed. I quickly located my boots and house keys, both of which were hidden in the kitchen freezer alongside an open package of Bagel Bites.

I skipped over the large guy who was knocked out in the foyer. Bounding over toward Ben, I quickly shook his shoulder. "What?" He muttered, rolling onto his back.

"Ben," I whispered. "Neuro starts in 15 minutes." While I may have treated the other aspects of my life negligently, academia was not one of them.

"Fuck, okay," he said, sitting upright. He looked around, taking in all the people strewn about his apartment. "I'll let Eric deal with this shit." Eric was Ben's roommate and best friend.

The air outside was crisp and clean, a welcome juxtaposition to the cloud of weed and cigarette smoke that was settled into my lungs, as well as my liquor-soaked breath. Just as we got into Ben's truck, he fished his hand into the glove compartment, pulling out an extra pair of glasses.

Putting them on, he asked, "Do you need me to swing by your place first?"

I looked down at my fishnet tights, black skirt, and slouchy top with the cigarette burn at the hem, and shrugged. "No, don't worry about it. Besides," I said, assessing him, "you look way worse."

He chuckled as he smelled the collar of his holey Van Halen shirt. "You're probably right." He revved up his engine, putting down the windows for some much-needed fresh air. "Fuck it, let's go."

We stopped by the gas station on the way, quickly grabbing some sodas to wake us up. We had two minutes to get to Neurobiology by the time we parked in the student lot. I grabbed a random notebook on the floorboard of Ben's truck and stole a pencil from his cup holder, running after him toward the Science building.

"Hey," he whined, "I forgot to grab mine." His eyes were locked on the black spiral bound in my hand.

"Buck up," I teased. "I'll let you share my thieved paper."

"So charitable," he said sarcastically.

We reached the Neurobiology classroom just as Dr. Cullen was about to close the door. He smiled kindly as we slipped through the small open crack, gesturing us in. I ignored the 40+ pairs of eyes on us and sat in the front row as usual; Ben sat to my left, yawning as he got comfortable in the wooden desk.

"Alright, class," Dr. Cullen announced loudly. "Today will be a transition of sorts as I have finally figured out lab partners and assignments." He reached for a thick stack of stapled papers from his desk. "As I explained earlier in the week, I'm going to be pairing you off into twos and giving you a specific section to study. After I hand out all the assignments, you may get together with your partners and exchange contact information.

"Benjamin Cheney and Angela Weber are our first set of partners."

Ben shrugged out of his seat and walked up to Dr. Cullen, grabbing his assignment. He waited there, but no girl came forth.

Dr. Cullen checked his seating arrangement chart and frowned. "It seems that Angela is not present today. You'll have to wait until Friday to discuss your project."

Ben nodded and came back to sit next to me. He studied his assignment, occasionally pointing out something random as Dr. Cullen continued assigning partners. It was ten more pairs of partners in that he called my name out.

"Isabella Swan and Edward Masen."

I got up, quickly going forward to take my project sheet. Edward looked up at me beneath his lashes, crookedly smiling. My heart tha-thumped an extra time for his pretty smile. I shrugged off the weird feeling and sat back down, glancing over my future project of sorting and studying neurodegenerative diseases. When all the partners were called, Dr. Cullen allowed everyone to change seats so as to go over time schedules and phone numbers. Ben was let go since his partner was MIA, whispering bye after I assured him I could walk home. Edward then came up front, taking the newly empty seat.

I quickly wrote down my e-mail and phone number on a sheet of paper, slipping it over to Edward as he sat. I handed over my phone so he could do the same. After we had sufficiently exchanged information, we were allowed to leave. At a leisurely pace, Edward walked me out.

"Rough night last night?" His eyes flicked down to my tattered clothing.

I snorted. "You could say that." He waited for an explanation. "There was a party at Ben's, and as you can tell," I gestured to myself, "I had no time to clean up this morning."

"You still look nice," Edward murmured. Before embarrassment could set in, he asked, "What are you doing for the rest of the day?"

"Well, a shower is up first," I assured, eliciting a chuckle from him. "And then I'm skipping my three o'clock Global Perspectives class to go to a spa appointment with Rose and Alice."

"So strictly a pleasure day..."

"Sort of," I corrected. "Rose doesn't really much care for Alice, and I'm attempting to rectify that."

He chuckled. "Why are they at odds?"

"Well, Jasper's very carefree about his sex noises, and Rose can do without the soundtrack..._especially_ when he does it in our shared art room."

"And Alice is the missing part of the sex equation," Edward guessed.

I laughed. "Yeah, you could say that. So, I'm trying to mend fences with a girly day."

"That's really nice," he said genuinely, smiling. I suppose I hadn't really noticed before, but being in the sunlight made me really look at Edward.

"You have gorgeous eyes," I told him. And he really did - they were like a cat's eye, mostly lime and dark green, and just a hint of yellow swirled around the pupil.

"Oh, thanks," he replied shyly, ducking his head. "So are you going to that club tomorrow night? The one your friend's band is playing at..."

I nodded. "Yeah, I think I will. Are you?" The club Liam and Laurence's band were playing at was actually really popular, and the whole concert thing had turned into a big deal around campus.

"Yeah, I'm going."

"Good," I smiled at him as I reached the corner of my street. "Maybe you can show me some of your wicked dance moves."

In an uncharacteristic display of sarcasm, Edward said, "Like you could handle them."

I smirked, enjoying this side of him. "There's a lot of you I could handle, Edward Masen." Grinning at his red cheeks, I walked away.

* * *

**TIT FOR TAT: Review and you'll get Edward's POV**

**MAKE SURE YOU SIGN IN WHEN REVIEWING!**


	9. Chapter 9

Early update because this one's short.

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_**Bella**_

"Tell me why we're doing this again."

I ignored the twisted look plastered on Rose's face and answered, "Because you need to learn to play nice with others. _Particularly _Alice."

"Whatever," she grumbled under her breath.

"Besides," I added, "you could use a massage. Apparently Jared didn't do a sufficient enough job of relieving your tension the other night."

"We didn't do anything," she shot back at me. "He kissed me after dinner and then I went home. End of story."

"Lame," I sang, already bored.

Instead of furthering conversation with Ice Queen, I concentrated on following the directions Alice gave me to the spa. It took fifteen minutes to get to the cute little space and thankfully it didn't seem crowded. I spotted the pink Volkswagen at once, parking next to it. Alice was waiting at the entrance, bare-faced and hopping in excitement. Once inside, we gave our names and were led to a back room stocked with robes, towels, and slippers.

First up was the waxing. There was really no conversing as the pain was almost blinding; it was all of our first times being waxed. After the waxing, they brought us to three massage chairs with small basins below bubbling with hot water. We chose nail colors and sat, dipping our feet in the heated water.

"So what'd you guys do today?" Alice squeaked as the nail technicians came out.

"Woke up at Ben's, went to Neurobiology, and then I showered before we left."

"I went to the gym and then English," Rose supplied, handing her nail technician the small bottle of cherry red polish.

"What about you?" I asked Alice.

"Well, I went to Art and had lunch with Jasper, but guess what happened?"

"Hmm," I hummed as my foot was massaged with a cooling cream.

"This guy, Seth, he's in my and Jasper's art class. Well, today when we were leaving class, he made sure to stop me and read out a poem he wrote in front of _everyone_!"

Rose let out an uncharacteristic laugh of disbelief.

"Yeah," Alice continued. "_Oh, Alice, oh, Alice, your hair is black as night. Won't you go out with me tonight?"_

"So you've got yourself a stalker?" I teased between harsh laughs.

"God, that sucks," Rose moaned. "I know exactly how that feels."

With a pleased smile, Alice tilted her head as a sign for Rose to continue.

"There's this guy, Emmett. We've had like one class together I think...last year maybe. Anyway, he's always leaving me poems, and love notes, and flowers. The gestures themselves are nice, but the manner in which he does them is obnoxiously embarrassing and annoying!"

Alice played along, obviously happy that Rose was being civil. "No way. And have you told him no?"

"I've told him no, I've told him fuck no, I've told him never. He just won't take my flat-out refusals!" Rose grumbled between chuckles.

"I haven't seen any proclamations of love waiting for you lately," I pointed out.

"That's because you've been hanging out with Ben so much," Rose struck back. "And because I haven't gotten anymore," she admitted quietly afterward.

"Aw, Bella and Ben are stoner BFFs," Alice giggled. Rose joined in.

"You guys suck," I muttered. My spirits couldn't be dampened though; my mission was successful, and Rose and Alice were finally being friendly.

After Rose's nails were bright red, Alice's purple, and mine black, we moved on to get full body massages. Relaxing music played while capable hands kneaded my skin, coaxing me to sleep. When I woke, we got facials, and then redressed before leaving. It was around five that we stepped out of the spa, and the sky was shot through with dark blue and shades of pink. We agreed to have dinner at an Italian restaurant nearby.

Bella Italia was small and intimate with its dark velvety curtains and dim, yellowed lighting. We were led to a booth near the front window, where we could view the entire restaurant at ease. A few candles glowed beneath the weak chandelier light.

"You have got to be kidding me." Those were the first words out of Rose's mouth upon sitting down. Her eyes were trained in the distance, near the kitchen.

"What, what's wrong?" I asked, leaning over to catch whatever had her attention.

"Stop looking!" She hissed, ducking her head.

"What is it?" I hissed back.

"Emmett. He's over there," she whispered in horror.

"Which one?" I asked, sitting up to look again.

"The huge one with the dark hair."

When I caught sight of who she described, I couldn't help but gaze confusedly at her. "The one in the server's uniform?" I asked.

"Yeah," she confirmed, sneaking a glance behind propped hands.

"The one you've described as enormous, okay-looking, and dim-wittedly dull?"

Rose nodded, ducking once more.

"Rose, you're an idiot," I stated plainly.

She didn't look the least bit hurt by my insult, but she did look shocked. "Why's that?"

"He's freaking hot!" Alice raved quietly, voicing my own thoughts.

"What?" Rose gasped, dropping her cover and looking over at the guy in question. He was tall, well-muscled, had dark curly hair, and a dimpled smile that could drop any panties.

Just then Mr. Dimples ended his conversation with the other waiter and stuffed his notepad in his pocket. We all looked away as he strode near us. It was only a few moments before we heard his voice.

"Hello, my name is Emmett. I'll be your server tonight. Can I start you off with some drinks?" His voice was deep like I imagined, but held a sort of soft edge to it. "Rosalie?" He asked softly as he peered over her hands.

"Hey, Emmett," she replied bleakly, once again dropping her cover. "I didn't know you worked here." It was implied that had she known, we wouldn't have come.

Emmett smiled, revealing his crater dimples. "Yeah, I just started not too long ago."

"That's great," Rose muttered. "I'll um, have a water."

"Just a water please," Alice trilled.

"I'll have a Coke," I said, smiling, giddy with the plot twist of our night.

Without another word, he walked off.

"He seems nice," I granted, perusing the menu.

"Whatever," Rose murmured. To find him so annoying, her gaze followed him often.

After dropping off our drinks and taking our orders, Emmett was left to wait on his other tables. He was friendly, cheerful, and made nice conversation with the other patrons; his laugh was contagious and others often found themselves joining in when he did so. It was when Emmett stopped to chat with a fellow waitress that Rose blatantly turned in her chair to stare at the two of them.

"I can't believe it," Rose whispered, staring still.

"What?" I asked, although I wasn't really interested.

"Emmett's talking to Irina Denali!"

"Denali, Denali," I tested the name. "That sounds familiar."

"She's Tanya Denali's little sister. She's a sophomore," Rose bit out.

"Why do you care?" I drawled, scrolling through my texts lazily.

"I don't," Rose hissed, swiveling back around toward Alice and me. I had a feeling Rose was more or less trying to convince herself of that, rather than actually answering me.

When our food was dropped off, Emmett came by a few minutes later. "How is everything, ladies?" He asked politely.

"Great!" Alice assured him as she twirled spaghetti around her fork prongs.

"Oh, Emmett," Rose started off, her voice silky. Alice and I exchanged glances at the subtle shift of Rose's tone. "Are you going to Club Dawn tomorrow night?"

Emmett, too, looked taken aback by Rose's sudden shift in demeanor. "Uh, yeah, I think so. My roommates are going, so I'll probably tag along."

"Great!" Rose said brightly. She touched his bicep briefly. "I guess I'll see you there then."

Emmett stammered a reply and walked away, disappearing into the kitchen.

"What was that about?" I wondered skeptically.

Rose shrugged nonchalantly. "I was just making conversation."

"Mmhmm," I hummed doubtfully, popping a ravioli into my mouth.

When dinner was finished, and the checks were billed and signed, we gathered our purses and got up to leave. Emmett came by once more, bidding us a good evening.

"Bye," Rose sang as we walked toward the door. Suddenly, she stopped. "Oh, and Emmett?" This perked his attention. "Don't forget to save me a dance tomorrow. Good night."

* * *

**Tit for tat: Review and you'll get Rose's POV**

**Next up: Edward and the club scene**


	10. Chapter 10

There will be songs described in the club scenes: the first one described (techno dance song) is Mr. Saxobeat by Alexandra Stan...the second one is Hypnotize by Biggie

Just in case you wanted to put some music to the scenes.

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_**Bella**_

"Do you think I should wear my fish boxers?"

I didn't bother to disguise my disgust. "I don't know how to answer that, but I'm really hoping you aren't referring to a hygiene problem."

Jasper stood in my bedroom doorway holding three pairs of boxers, each decorated in a different pattern. The blue boxers dotted with pink fish were by far the least holiest.

"Go with the fish ones. They just scream class."

Jasper smiled in a triumphant sort of way and exclaimed, "I knew it!", before racing back down the stairway.

"Sometimes I'm genuinely embarrassed he's my twin brother," Rose sighed while swiping on flame red lipstick.

"Yeah, sometimes I'm embarrassed we're related at all." I took a moment to watch Rose watching herself before I spoke again. "Getting extra dolled up for any reason?"

She became self-aware quickly and capped her lipstick. "Nope. No special reason at all."

"I love watching your denial unravel," I said dryly.

"You're just as dressed up," she attempted to point out.

But, she was wrong. In fact, my hair was day-old dirty and my face was completely bare. However, I _was_ already dressed in a form-fitting, gold and charcoal baroque-patterned minidress that zipped the entire distance from the top of my thighs to the swell of my cleavage; chunks of gold bangles adorned my wrist while my feet were shoved in my favorite soft leathered, worn-in Doc Martens.

"Damn it!" Rose suddenly screeched. I glanced over. "I look so lame with my hair straightened," she whined. "That's it." She threw down her makeup and waltzed into my bathroom, coming back into the room with the curling iron. "I'm curling my hair."

I shrugged carelessly and lay back, pulling a cigarette from the pack shoved in my boot. While Rose obsessed over her appearance for another half hour, I listened to the Nirvana CD playing in the background, blowing smoke rings toward my ceiling.

"Finally," she groaned when the time struck 10:30. "All done." Her golden hair was spun in spirals and flowed smoothly down her back. Her eyes widened when she took in my position on the floor. "Bells, you aren't even ready yet!"

"Cool it," I said, finally sitting up.

"We're leaving in five minutes," she snapped, stomping out of my room and clunking down the stairs in anger.

I knew what she was wired about. I noticed the way Emmett's attention had waned as of late, and although Rose had always been so "annoyed" by his gestures in the past, his lack of attention bothered her even more. Tonight was the night she was going after him, and she was nervous.

It took exactly four minutes for me to get ready. With hair teased wild and eyes lined black, I hustled Cousin 1 and 2 to the front door. Since Rose was being a cranky bitch, she was denied passenger seat access, so Jasper directed me toward Club Dawn.

It took eight blocks and twenty minutes of impatient line-waiting before we were ushered inside. Upon entering, I was accosted by the potent smell of lust, alcohol, and excitement. It was a hedonistic wonderland with a midnight atmosphere sliced apart with star-bright strobe lights, framed by four massive brick walls - the space itself was divided by a long, neon-illuminated bar, spacious dance floor, and small music stage.

I made a beeline for the bar, catching the attention of the bartender as soon as I walked up.

"Screwdriver, please."

He quickly went to work while I surveyed the area. All around, people danced, basically just a large group of grinding limbs that flowed into one another. The stage was adorned with instruments, a hint of what was to come.

"On the house, beautiful," the bartender said before sliding my drink forward.

I smiled and stuffed my fake ID back into my boot.

"Well, well, well…look who came out to play." Even despite his taunting words, I could appreciate how hot Liam looked - lazy black shirt, destroyed jeans, and Docs just as worn out as mine.

"I figured I could grace everyone with my presence."

He smiled in a devilish sort of way. "Wanna dance?"

I took four long gulps of my drink until ice hit my lips. "Sure."

Linked hands took us toward the floor, shoving us through the congested crowd. In the very center, underneath the dim-lit vintage chandelier, he curved his hands around my hips from behind, pulling me against him.

With the beat of the song, we swayed and swiveled our hips together, blending into the grinding people around us. A shock of bright blonde hair in the distance caught my attention, although I kept dancing.

Rose's arms were happily linked around Emmett's neck, who looked like he was dreaming; his face was happily high on happiness, and he held her close to him. I smiled despite myself.

"Bella!" Alice suddenly appeared before me, Chelsea behind her. Chelsea's normally sullen face was transformed into an excited smile upon seeing Liam attached to me.

"Where's Jasper?" Alice asked, leaning forward to yell in my ear.

"Probably outside smoking," I yelled back.

Alice perked up with a large grin and ran away, Chelsea following. It was only moments later that Chelsea was back, dragging with her Edward.

Despite dancing with the devilishly attractive Liam, my eyes couldn't help but roam over Edward, who stared back uncomfortably at me and my dance partner.

Edward was dressed in a white button-up polo and dark pants, with his hair standing up in a halo of disarray. He looked like an insanely gorgeous angel amongst a sea of sinners, all of whom were unworthy of his beauty or presence.

Chelsea pulled Edward behind her roughly, immediately grinding her hips into his groin. In a fit of the most unfortunate dance moves I'd ever been witness to, Chelsea backed up, grinded, and gyrated into Edward with the fervor of a middle-aged stripper with twins.

And then, the music changed - a techno dance song now on - and something in Edward changed. He straightened up with determination and seemed to get ahold of himself. His fingers found good purchase on Chelsea's waist and he flattened his front against her back, finally participating to the new beat.

With every roll of his hips, I tried that much harder. Although his hands were on Chelsea, his body against hers, _I_ had his attention. Our eyes stayed locked, and I could swear that he was imagining me as he danced with her.

As the song began to wind down, I decided to have a little fun. As his glowing green eyes stared into mine, I intentionally ground my ass harder into Liam and mouthed the next lyrics to Edward…

"_Don't be so shy, play with me, my dirty boy, can't you see that you belong next to me…"_

Chelsea was oblivious as Edward's mouth dropped open in lust, his fingers digging harder into her hips.

"Hey, the band's about to go on. I've gotta get up there," Liam said at my ear.

I nodded, still staring at Edward, as Liam smiled and made his way toward the stage. Deciding to play a little, I nodded my head to the right and winked at Edward. I pushed and shoved my way out of the crowd and found a place against the brick wall near the bar. I was only alone for a few moments.

Edward leaned next to me, but was mute. I broke the silence. "How'd you ditch Chelsea?"

He shrugged. "She gets distracted easily."

"You lied," I lightly accused.

He looked ashamed, but torn. "Maybe."

I smirked over at him as the music changed to Hypnotize by Biggie Smalls. "You look sexy tonight," I taunted him.

I detected a smile beneath his lowered head. Pressing my chest to his bicep, I leaned forward to kiss his warmed jaw. "Dance with me."

He said nothing back, but his fingers tangled with mine. We found a spot closer to the back of the club where it was less illuminated, and more bathed in a dark blue glow. Dancing with Edward was different than with Liam. It was slower, more concentrated, languid, and most of all, sexy as hell.

Edward moved with me, not against me. He was like a part of me, moving where I went. His cheek was pushed against my temple, and every part of him was touching me somehow. He held me with tenderness, and moved against me with lust.

In a moment of pure abandon, I turned completely to face him and whispered against the soft spot below his ear, "Want to get out of here?"

* * *

**TIT FOR TAT: Review and you get Chelsea's POV**

**AND a picture of Bella's club outfit**


	11. Chapter 11

_**Bella**_

Edward's answer was quick and final. I kept our hands entwined as I snaked my way through the crowd toward the entrance. I was sure Rose and Jasper could find rides home with Emmett and Alice, so I was only worried about getting to my car.

"Have you been drinking?" I asked Edward, looking around for where I parked my car.

"Nope."

"Good," I smiled, "then you can drive." I tossed him my keys as I walked over to the passenger side of my SUV.

Our ride was quiet and a bit awkward, except for the brief directions I gave him to the brownstone. He was properly appreciative of it, complimenting me on the decor although I had nothing to do with that. Impatiently, I led him away from the top of the line kitchen and up the stairway to my bedroom.

"Want to take a shower?" I asked, turning back to him as I shuffled toward my bathroom.

"Uh, yeah...sure?"

His nervousness was endearing and I found myself genuinely smiling. "Don't get all shy on me now, Edward. You were just humping me on the dance floor."

I ignored the choking sound he made and flicked on the bathroom light, immediately unzipping my dress. It fell in a heap to the floor as I felt Edward come in behind me, being careful to maintain a respectful distance. I swiveled, unhooking my bra. "Off," I ordered, nodding toward his pants.

My bra joined my dress on the tile, and my hooked thumbs pulled down satin underwear. I started the shower, waiting for it to warm. Edward took his sweet time unbuttoning his shirt and pulling down his pants and briefs. To save him the embarrassment, I made sure to enter the shower before he was fully naked.

It was a solid minute before I heard the shower curtain ruffle as it was pulled to the side. Two feet slapped against the wet tub floor, and Edward's teeth clacked in a shiver.

"Here," I muttered, shuffling to the side so he could stand under the hot spray.

A glance down afforded me the vision of his beautiful body and oddly attractive package. His arms were crossed against his chest in a feeble attempt to warm up. I rolled my eyes, stepping nearer. He watched as I gathered hot water in my hands and rubbed them down his arms and down his sides.

"Any better?" I asked.

"Much," he murmured, staring into my eyes.

I grinned, taking in the sight of the hot, naked, wet boy in my shower. "C'mon. Let's get that pretty hair of yours squeaky clean."

He chuckled, watching as I picked up the large white bottle. I squirted shampoo into my palm, rubbing together my hands before raking them along Edward's scalp. As I began to work the product into his hair, creating foam and bubbles, his eyes drifted shut and his face relaxed with serenity. He enjoyed my fingers massaging his roots, almost purring with pleasure. His closed eyes granted me the opportunity to study his face without uneasiness on his part.

He was really quite beautiful for a boy, I had to admit. I hadn't met anyone else prettier than him. He had everything working in his favor: his 'fuck me' hair, swollen red lips, straight nose, exotic eyes, pale skin. It was almost unfair to the rest of the male species.

Gently, I tilted his head back, washing away the shampoo and bubbles. This permeated us in the smell of sugar and sin.

Water dripping down his face, Edward smiled cutely. "Your turn?" He asked, picking up the shampoo bottle.

I stared at him, my wicked smirk growing.

"What?" He asked self-consciously, throwing in a small nervous smile.

"I can feel your hard on."

His mouth dropped and his eyes widened in disbelief at my unfiltered candor. With great want, I leaned forward and pushed my lips against his, breathing in _him_. It didn't take him long to push back while he placed his hands on my lower back, his index fingers finding home in my back dimples. I hooked my arms around his neck and grabbed two fistfuls of his clean hair, pulling.

He groaned, turning so that he was pushing me against the shower wall. His erection pressed against my hipbone, so I stretched on my tip-toes, allowing it to settle in the gap between my upper thighs.

I broke away from his mouth as his hips began thrusting forward and back. As he slid back and forth against me sensitively, I kissed and licked along his throat. His skin did taste quite exquisite and I couldn't help but bite the point of his perfectly angled jawbone.

"You're so sexy," he sighed.

"You flatterer," I teased, giggling.

"No, really," he moaned. "Ever since that first day of Biology, I've been obsessed thinking about you." I settled my leg on the tub ledge, and grasped him, stroking lightly a few times. And then he sucked in a breath as I pushed him inside of me; his hips bucked forward to fill the rest of the space.

"Oh my God," he groaned almost painfully. His head dropped to my shoulder as he began moving in and out.

I met him for every thrust and found it actually quite nice to just massage his hair as he did all the pleasurable work. I occasionally kissed his head or scratched my nails against his back when he felt particularly good. To seem so shy and unsure, the boy actually knew what to do with what God gave him. It wasn't five minutes before he was making me melt, and he didn't wait long after before hurriedly pulling out and spilling down the drain.

After his labored breathing had calmed and he turned his pink cheeks toward me, I smiled and gently kissed his lips. "I'm on the pill, y'know."

His pink cheeks turned red, and his chin lowered. "I didn't know."

I smiled and shook my head at the wonderfully sweet boy who actually seemed to like me for some reason. "Alright, my turn. Shampoo me."

The rest of our shower was clean, both metaphorically and figuratively. Shampoo, soap, and conditioner later, I handed Edward a large towel to dry off with as I ran into my bedroom to grab a new one for myself out of the closet. When I was dry, I changed into some underwear and a wife beater. The bathroom was suddenly darkened and Edward came into the bedroom, his towel fashioned around his hips.

"Want something to wear?"

He nodded, throwing me a grateful smile.

I fished out a large, overwashed Zeppelin shirt, and found a pair of Jasper's sweatpants I had stolen two Christmases ago. "You'll have to make do without boxers," I flirted.

As he dressed, I messed with my iPod. My fingers scrolled through hundreds of songs before Edward had hung his towel and waited, perched on the bed.

"Would you mind opening that window?" I asked, still scrolling. "It's hot in here."

"Sure," he answered, walking over and pulling open the glass.

The breeze and its cool effect was immediate and I sighed in contentment. I finally picked a song and hooked the player up to the speakers. "Get that light, will ya?" I said, pointing toward the light switch. Edward flicked it off, and the room was suddenly bathed in a milky glow of moonlight. It wasn't dark by any means and Edward was highlighted beautifully by the pale blue hue.

"You staying?" I wondered, climbing into my bed.

"Uh, yeah. I mean, I guess...if you want me to."

"Edward," I said sternly. "Get in the bed."

He smiled, snorting softly. He carefully and slowly got in the bed, staying on his side. His body immediately melted into the downy mattress and pillows. "This feels incredible."

"It's my little Heaven," I agreed. Rolling over to my nightstand, I grabbed the pink pack of new flavored cigarettes I'd purchased on a whim while out exploring the city. They were strawberry. "Do you mind if I smoke?" I asked, unknowing of his debaucherous limits.

"Go ahead," he said quietly.

I ignited my lighter, flaming the end of the pink stick. After a few inhales and exhales, my mind became interested. "Do you smoke?"

"No. My mom's a nurse and would kill me if I started."

I snorted. "Yeah, Mommy Dearest wouldn't be too keen on knowing how much I've abused these lungs." I allowed my head to fall to the left as I met Edward's gaze. Unable to not touch him any longer, I hoisted my body up, keeping careful with my cigarette, and straddled his jutting hips. His hands immediately dug under the seam of my underwear, just barely touching the slight swell of my ass.

I pulled in the strawberry smoke, and let it seep slowly and creepily out through my parted lips. "Want to try?" I whispered.

He nodded, sitting up which pushed me back to sit on his already up again hard on. I watched, entranced, as his full lips wrapped around the mouth of my proffered cigarette, his throat bobbing as he sucked in. I quickly reached over and put out the strawberry in my ashtray, and then inhaled the sweet smoke he blew out, staring in his eyes the entire time. My heart was beating wildly, pounding loudly in my chest.

We were immersed in complete silence for two seconds before the ironically appropriate 'Sex and Candy' began playing from the speakers.

* * *

**Tit for tat: Review and you'll get Edward's POV**


	12. Chapter 12

_**Bella**_

"Do you want to go out on a date with me?"

I looked up from tying my shoes. "A date?"

Edward nodded. "Yes."

I shook my head. "Sorry, I don't _date_."

"What do you mean?" He urged.

I shrugged. "I don't enjoy the awkward fumbling of getting to know new people."

"I'm not really a _new_ person," he argued weakly.

"Sorry, but no."

Edward's silence pierced the air as we continued to dress for our Neurobiology class - Edward donned his jeans from the night before, but kept on the Zeppelin shirt he'd slept in. I put on a new outfit of jeans and a tank top with gaping sides.

"I think we'd be good together," he finally said.

"We wouldn't."

"And why not?" He asked.

"Because I'll ruin you."

It seemed that Edward had no argument against that. Instead, he finished getting ready and stood. "Well, I'll see you later then?"

"Yeah, you will. Because we have class together right now," I teased, hoping to lighten his dampened spirits. I hopped up and walked toward him. "Come on, Angelface," I whispered against his lips, "let's go."

It was a mellow hour of class while Edward and I sorted out our project details. Ben was nowhere to be found, but this time around, I found myself more focused on Edward.

Like the color of his lips, almost stained deep pink. Or the pattern of his eyes, which resembled a nebula of moss green and dark yellow. But most of all, I thought about his sexy body against mine in my shower. I wondered briefly if I could lure him back to my bedroom after class.

"Bella," Edward said, cutting into my thoughts.

"What?" I asked grumpily.

"Class is over."

I looked around, noticing how everyone was racing to exit the lone door. Silently, I packed up my things and waited in line until we stepped out of the door. Once outside, a tiny arm attached itself to me, pulling me down with its force.

"We are having lunch right now," Alice insisted, her grey eyes flashing with sheer anticipation.

"Actually," I prepared to reject, "I needed to talk to Edward about something." I grabbed onto Edward's sleeve before he could escape elsewhere.

"Edward's invited, silly!" She chirped, pulling him behind her as she fled down the sidewalk.

Jasper smiled goofy in her direction as we walked behind.

"Do you ever get tired?" I wondered.

"Of what?" Jasper asked, unwrapping a lollipop he pulled from his pocket.

"Her energy."

"Never," he grinned. "It makes for awesome sex."

"Ugh!" I screamed, aiming to strike him. Unfortunately, he was fast and sprinted ahead.

"Should I report you for assault against another student?" A voice came at my right.

I snorted, glancing over at him. "Not if you knew why."

"You're feisty, TB." Ben smiled with crinkled eyes behind his hipster glasses.

"TB?" I asked.

"Toke Buddy. That's what Liam calls you: my TB."

I snorted again. "Clever." There was a pause. "Why weren't you in class? Skipping already?"

"I actually had a Student Government meeting, so my absence was excused."

I raised my brows. "Well _excuse _me, Mr. Sassy."

Ben smiled, keeping open the door Alice had just pulled to the cafeteria. "After you, madam."

"So what, are you following me now? Should I dub you STB?" I joked, walking through the doorway.

"Stalker Toke Buddy?" He guessed.

I chuckled and rolled my eyes, walking away to grab food. Toward the back of the room, everyone sat at a large table. I sat in the empty chair between Edward and Ben.

"Oh God," Alice suddenly moaned.

This gained my interest, prompting me to look up. Chelsea jogged excitedly over, waving frantically. "Hey, guys! Mind if I join?"

There was a tense silence as we all shook our heads. To add to the awkwardness, Chelsea grabbed a chair from a neighboring table and scraped it loudly against the floor to make a seat next to Edward.

"Oh my God, Edward, your arm! What happened?"

Everyone's attention was directed to Edward, whose left arm was inflamed with three long scratches. A brief flickering of my fingers digging into him as he loved my body invaded my brain, washing me over in the memory of ecstasy.

"I was uh…I. Well," Edward struggled. "I was playing with a cat," he suddenly came up with.

"You don't have a cat though," Chelsea pointed out doubtfully.

"It wasn't my cat," Edward muttered, lowering his guilty face.

As blasé as I could manage, I contributed, "Must have been _some _pussy." Nonchalantly, I licked mashed potatoes off my spoon.

Edward's green eyes slid over to me, and in a moment of our pure innuendo, he added, "Oh, that it was."

Chelsea sat to his right, dumbfounded and still confused; Alice watched me with smirking eyes; Jasper was not interested in our conversation at all, and neither was Ben.

"Anyways," Chelsea practically shouted, snapping out of her puzzled daze, "what happened to you last night? I thought you were coming right back to dance." She glanced over at me on the word 'dance' just long enough to make a point.

I swallowed back my smile while Edward attempted to lie. "It just got too hot in there, and I couldn't find you. So, I went home."

"But, you didn't," Chelsea urged. "I stopped by your dorm after I left the club, and Eli said you weren't around." Eli was Edward's roommate, I had learned.

While Jasper and Ben had engaged in some nerdy conversation about the effects of weed on video gaming, Alice was completely and shamelessly enthralled in Chelsea and Edward's conversation, while occasionally peeking at me.

"Oh yeah, I didn't go home last night," Edward played.

"So where did you go?" Chelsea prompted.

"Well, I had to give Bella a ride home," he answered, suddenly dragging me into this. "So I slept over at her place."

"Why?" Alice piped up, grinning from ear to ear. I shook my head at her antagonistic antics.

"I didn't want her to asphyxiate by inhaling her own vomit. Ya know…if she happened to throw up," Edward muttered.

Chelsea's head violently snapped to me for confirmation.

"I'm notoriously helpless after drinking," I added helpfully.

She watched me with blazing eyes, fury dripping from her. But after a moment, she calmed and seemed to accept the ridiculous story Edward had spun from thin air. "Well, I could see how that might happen. You seem like you have the potential to be self-hazardous," Chelsea said to me.

I snorted and continued eating my potatoes. The rest of our meal passed quickly, and soon we were convening outside where rain had started to drizzle down. I pulled out a pink cigarette, lighting up, sucking in as long as I could, turning most of the stick to ash in one pull.

"Damn, TB. Slow down, why don't you savor it?" Ben teased, lighting up his own cigarette.

I smiled back while the others watched, Edward's green eyes fixed on the pink stick. "_You smoke to enjoy it. I smoke to die_," I quoted.

Ben chuckled, inhaling his own smoke. Edward watched me with parted lips. I pulled my cigarette away from my mouth, and intentionally blew the smoke toward him…it was a sort of reenactment of our previous night, and it did the trick. Edward smiled, blushed, and ducked his head.

"You guys shouldn't smoke," Chelsea suddenly said, disgust painted all over her face.

"Yeah, yeah," Ben dismissed her. "Everybody's gonna die anyway. Might as well go by the hand of something I enjoy," he pointed out.

"You'll just go about 20 years earlier," she snapped, flashing her eyes at us.

In a move to shut her up finally, I stepped closer to her and took a pull, before saying down to her short frame, "_I may die young, but at least I'll die smart._"

* * *

**TIT FOR TAT: Review & you get Chelsea's POV**


	13. Chapter 13

_**Bella**_

A blue topaz sky cut across by stretched cotton ball clouds greeted me awake while my two cousins stood in my open doorway, dressed up in silly party hats and holding balloons.

My 20th birthday fell on a Saturday, just a week after my rendezvous with Edward. Shiny-wrapped gifts sat at my door, waiting to be ripped open. Jasper urged me with impatience to get to them, pulling me from my fluffy, white haven with the strength of a retarded ape.

Folding my legs neatly in an X, I ripped open the first gift, which was from my mother and father; originally, they had attempted to convince me to let them fly down for the occasion, but I'd refused, knowing of a huge frat party happening and not wanting to miss any minute of epicness it might provide. Instead, they had mailed my gifts.

For most of the morning, I tore into my presents, and allowed Jasper and Rose to take goofy pictures _of _me, _with _me, and my gifts. From my parents, I received some clothes, a new pair of vintage boots, and spending money. Jasper bought me a shiny silver flask, and Rose got me a new iPod. My Aunt and Uncle Hale surprised me with a plane ticket to New York for New Year's Eve with Jasper and Rose.

Once all the wrapping paper was thrown away, and my gifts were properly stored and organized, I flopped back into my bed. Rose joined me under the covers, and Jasper took a seat at the foot.

"What should we do today, birthday girl?" Jasper asked, tickling my foot beneath the blanket.

I jerked it from his reach, chuckling. "Don't know…"

Rose sat up quickly, ruffling around. "I know just the place to spend the day!" She said excitedly, extracting herself from my downy overthrow. "Both of you get dressed. It's shorts and t-shirt kind of weather!" Her voice diminished as she ran further away from my bedroom.

Jasper looked as confused as I felt, but left my room to change. I obeyed Rose and dressed in ripped denim cutoffs and a plain white t-shirt. With my hair up in a messy bun and my feet clad in leather sandals, I made my way downstairs. Rose, who was dressed in similar attire, was texting on her phone while Jasper tied up the strings to his Converses.

A twenty minute car ride brought me to a new sight. The Navy Pier. It was a 3,300 foot pier that jutted out into Lake Michigan, atop with museums, restaurants, a movie theater, and rides.

With my first string of excitement for the day, we walked into the congested crowd and started our fun. Until late into the afternoon, we played mini golf, rode the carousel and ferris wheel, and took weird pictures with the landscape and art. We had lunch on the Spirit of Chicago, and walked through the Stained Glass Museum.

At around 6, our stomachs rumbled with hunger once again, so Jasper and Rose insisted on treating me to a birthday dinner at Riva - a nautical-themed steak and seafood restaurant that overlooked both the Chicago skyline and lake.

Blue topaz turned to sapphire as day turned to night. Our table sat against the wall-sized glass, affording us a beautiful, twinkling view as we enjoyed our dinner.

Just as our plates had been cleared and the check dropped off, a thought sprang to my mind.

"Hey, what ever happened with Emmett the other night after the club?"

Rose glanced up, still sliding her credit card in the black leather folder. "We went back to his dorm for a bit."

"_And_?" I urged.

"Ugh! Don't encourage her, Bella. I don't need to hear this," Jasper whined.

Rose shot Jasper a look that read 'unbelievable'. "You must be joking," she snapped. "Do I need to even recount how many times I've walked into the house just to hear you and Alice in the throes of passion?"

I caught my snort before it could escape, while Jasper looked properly chastised. "Whatever," he muttered.

"Anyway," she directed back at me. "We just talked for a while and hung out."

"_That's it_?" I asked.

She nodded, handing over the bill folder when our waiter came back by. "That's really it. And…it was nice." She had a secret smile on her face that hid so much. "That's who told me about tonight actually. Emmett's roommate is in Pi Kappa Alpha."

Although Emmett had originally told Rose, I'd known about this party all along. It was all anyone could talk about for the past week, as the Pi Kapps were infamous for their beginning of the year parties. Everyone I knew, including Ben and Alice, were going.

A brief glimmer of curiosity came to my mind, and I wondered if Edward would be there tonight. Ever since our night together, and my subsequent rejection, he'd been closed off, more melancholy. Besides our project, Edward and I didn't exchange words. That sort of thing wouldn't usually cross my mind twice, but I found my ice cold apathy melt a little when it came to that bronze-haired beauty of a boy. And for that, I had no idea why. But I knew that it was strange and I wasn't sure if I liked it.

A hot shower back at home brought forth even more intense memories of Edward…his hands, his hair between my fingers, _him_ inside me, his lips on my skin, his tongue in my mouth, his skin on mine. Passion rumbled through my veins and I found myself wanting him, missing him. I allowed myself just a moment of weakness, a moment of hope. Hoping he'd be at the party by some chance.

With massive blow-dried sex hair and smudgy eyes, I slipped into my uniform for the night: black skinny jeans, black velvet Docs courtesy of Mom and Dad, and a cherry red Motorhead shirt that was destroyed with holes and slits everywhere.

Once I snagged my cigarettes and filled my flask with vodka, I joined Rose and Jasper in my car. With my passenger window down, I blew smoke into the chilly night air as Rose drove us to the Greek part of campus, where it was surprisingly kempt. The Pi Kappa house stood two stories high and was made of dark brick, with a geometric turret on the right side.

Surprisingly, yet again, no people spilled into the well-kept yard or pristine porch. The only indication that anything special might be happening in the house was the great amount of cars parked on the street and in any available neighboring driveway, a clear giveaway that it was more than just the particular frat members that lived in the house present.

Because of the sheer attendance, we were forced to park two streets over, most likely a safe gesture anyway. I sidled up to Jasper in the slight coolness of the night, sharing my cigarette with him as we took quick steps back over to the Pi Kapp house. Rose texted Emmett upon our arrival, and a huge form stepped out of the front door, allowing both light and noise to escape before he shut it behind him.

In an effort to remain cool, Rose kept her slow pace and gave Emmett a light hug when he approached.

"Happy birthday," he said to me first, affording me a cute, dimpled smile.

"Thanks," I said back, throwing my wasted cigarette into the street. "How's the party so far?"

"Pretty awesome," Emmett replied, smiling over at Rose then. "I'm up for beer pong next. Want to be my partner?"

Rose grinned wide and real. "Let's take 'em down." Shyly, they took hands and went up to the porch.

Jasper and I were left to follow, as we mimicked their cutesy expressions in their wake. Inside the house was humid, crowded, but also huge and spacious in a way. To my immediate front was a large staircase leading to an open second floor, with a den to my right full of people dancing and talking, and a space to the left that held a giant beer pong table. Mounds of people stood around, watching the competitors, while an unfamiliar boy messed with a blackboard of beer pong teams.

"Let's go find Alice," Jasper suggested as Rose and Emmett walked to the left.

I nodded, still linked through his arm, as we navigated our way through the giant house. I recognized many people from my classes, earning greetings from most of them as we searched and searched. Eventually, we found her, doing shots off a gay guy I knew mutually through Alice; his name was Michael, and he had more flame than a lit bonfire.

It was noticeable that Alice was halfway to Toasted Town by the time we reached her, with dilated grey eyes and pink-happy cheeks. She threw her arms around Jasper as soon as she saw him, planting her lips on his mouth much to the shrill encouragement of the tipsy crowd around us.

I was next as her lips hit precariously close to my lips as well, landing just east of the corner of my mouth. "Happy birthday!" She squeaked as she pulled back. "I got you a present!" She pulled a coiled baggy from the back pocket of her jean skirt, allowing it to unravel as she shook it. A perfectly rolled joint lay inside.

A sly grin spread on my face. "You know me so well," I teased.

"Oh, but of course," she trilled back, gaining back some of her sober personality. "What's say we hit the bathroom and blaze her up?"

I chuckled, throwing my arm over Alice's thin shoulder. "Let's go, Amy Winehouse."

While Jasper stood in line for the keg, Alice and I ventured deeper into the house where she knew of a secret, lesser known bathroom. Despite its supposed seclusion, five or so people were queued at its door, with quite a bit of other partygoers milling about.

While we waited, Alice recounted me with her adventurous dares she opted for in Truth or Dare about an hour before we got to the party. She did a keg stand, made out with Michael, and was forced to be tied to a chair while the frat president gave her a lap dance.

Just as she was about to re-do said lap dance for me, the bathroom door opened and we were allowed in. I turned the lock as Alice hopped up on the counter, lighting up the joint. Its cherry burned bright as she brought it to my lips. I pulled in, holding the sweet smoke in the back of my throat. She did the same, and we blew out small clouds into the air.

"Good stuff," I muttered as I sucked in more, blowing out once again.

Suddenly, the door flew open and there stood Liam, all black jeans and band t-shirt and badass. He had the decency to look mildly chagrined to have burst in, but also pleasantly surprised to see me.

"Just who I wanted to see," he flirted, looking me up and down.

"That lock needs to be fixed," I noticed out loud as he came in fully, shutting the door behind him.

"What have we here, naughty girls?" He teased as Alice smoked more.

"It's Bella's birthday present," she giggled, sliding off the counter and heading for the door. "I'm going to find my lover. This weed's making me horny," she announced candidly, closing the door behind her.

"There goes my present," I sighed.

"No worries, birthday Bella," Liam said. "I have more." And that he did. We smoked in amicable silence, just the sound of intake and output filling the room. It wasn't long before it smelled of skunk and perfume, the two aromas mixing nicely.

A creak and footsteps caused me to look up from the floor.

"Oh, sorry!" Edward did a quick double-take, made a move to shut the door, and ended up staring at me.

As he stood frozen, with no plans to move, I became slightly irritated. "Shit or get off the pot. Pun intended." I waved him in as he looked torn, finally able to coax the timid puppy inside. I pulled the tainted smoke into my throat, looking him up and down as Liam, now to my left, messed on his phone.

Edward looked completely delectable in dark jeans and a white button-up Polo, his sleeves rolled up. Catching my stare, his cheeks reddened and he looked away uncomfortably.

"Shit, I've gotta go," Liam said suddenly, moving toward the door. "I'll see you later," he shouted on his way out, the white door shutting with an ominous click behind him.

Once again surrounded by silence, I spoke. "Just you and me now, handsome."

Edward nodded unsurely, bending his legs to lean against the small table positioned parallel to the wall; a small pile of folded towels sat on top. I moved closer to him, still smoking the joint Liam was nice enough to leave behind.

"I'd hoped you'd be here," I allowed him as I stood before him.

He glanced up at me, apple greens circled by a dark ring of jade. "Oh, yeah?" He hedged.

I nodded, stepping closer. "I've thought a lot about last Thursday."

"What about it?" Edward asked boldly, staring at me fully now.

"Oh, I think you know what I'm talking about, Edward. Let's not play games."

"Why not? Isn't that what you like to do?" His tone was dangerous and there was ice in it. It made me want him.

"Want some?" I offered, holding out my weed and changing the subject.

"No," he denied me.

"C'mon," I coaxed him. "Not even for my birthday?"

"It's your birthday?" Familiar warmth flooded his once icy stare, and this was the Edward I knew.

"It is."

"Happy birthday," he murmured in a velvet voice.

"Can I have something? For my birthday…"

"What do you want?" He asked, hands on my hips as I settled myself between his bent legs.

Instead of answering, I leaned forward, molding my lips on his lips. There were just as warm, and fluffy, and enticing as they'd been a week ago, moving against me in a way that suggested both experience and lust. I snubbed out my joint on the leg of the wooden table, allowing it to fall to the floor.

As lips became hungrier and tongues became sweeter, Edward pulled away, pushing the towels off the table with one quick swipe. Capable arms picked me up and placed me on the table in a sitting position, with wide open legs.

He bi-sected me, pulling me forward to thrust us together. His hands made quick work of pulling my t-shirt over my head, taking my breath away as perfect teeth nipped at my naked collarbone. His fingertips were gentle, yet bold, as he explored, and my feet dug into his thighs as I pulled him impossibly closer.

My hands pulled open a looped button, and I shoved down both his pants and boxers. They fell to a heap at his ankles as his own long fingers did away with my boots and skinny jeans. All that was left between us at that point was a Polo and my panties.

We met at the lips again, breaths and wanting moans escaping and slicing through the lust like a butter knife. Knocks sounded at the door, but we didn't care. There was only me and him, and the palpable connection we had, and nothing could ruin that.

His fingers suddenly hooked at the top of my underwear, pulling down as I lifted myself up by my arms. I unbuttoned his shirt fully, but left it on and open. And then there was nothing stopping me from feeling the ecstasy of him again.

But on his face and in his eyes, there was reticence. I was confused and intrigued.

"What is it?"

He looked into my eyes. "You're no good for me, but I can't stop wanting you."

There was only one logical answer to me. "So don't."

* * *

**Tit for tat: Review and you'll get Edward's POV**

**AND a picture of Bella's party outfit :)**


	14. Chapter 14

This is a short one, because more action is happening in the next chapters...

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_**Bella**_

Inside, on me, all around me was Edward. The scent of his exposed skin left me dizzy, clutching impossibly tighter to him. With every thrust, my body rocked back against the wall. His long fingers melded to the soft skin of my hips, pulling me to him back and forth.

"If you were mine," he murmured on my throat, "I'd love this body every day."

I sighed, "I don't belong to anyone."

"I wish you were mine. I'd be anything for you," Edward whispered, flexing his fingers against the corners of the towel table. "I could be a gentleman...or I could be _rough_."

I smiled, raking my fingers against his scalp. "Show me what I could have then, Loverboy."

Twenty minutes later, fully-dress and pink-cheeked, Edward and I meandered our way out of the bathroom. Instead of furthering our exit, he pushed me against the wall, framing me with hands at either side of my head.

As he stared into my eyes, something caught my attention in the near distance. There was a dining room off the hallway, and a shock of blonde hair got me. There was no doubting it was Chelsea, and just as she turned her head to notice us, I looked away and up at Edward.

With clutched hands on his collar, I forced my eyes to stay on his face instead of straying to the right like I wanted. However, I could still make out Chelsea surreptitiously loitering behind the right corner near the dining room, her ears so obviously trained on what Edward and I were saying.

"You're so pretty," he murmured with a smile, trailing his finger through a tendril of my hair.

"Judging by what just happened..._again, _I'm assuming you're a free agent." Chelsea's postured stiffened at my words, giving herself away; she began swirling a straw through her beer absentmindedly.

Edward frowned, tilting his head. "What does that mean?"

I glanced at Chelsea for the briefest of moments, ensuring she was listening. With a slightly louder voice, I answered, "Well I always assumed that you and Chelsea had something going on."

His frown deepened and he looked confused. "Why would you think that?"

My face was a mask of faux sincerity and a dash of innocence. "Alice is always going on about how Chelsea likes you, so I suppose I just assumed..." There was a pause filled where Chelsea had crept closer, abandoning her facade of focusing on her beer. "So you _don't_ want to be with her then?" I asked him, looking up beneath my lashes.

He bent forward and kissed me. "I do not like Chelsea. Never have, never will."

In a split second, Chelsea burst out with a sob and fled by us. Edward's face contorted in shock, watching as she ran away.

"Was that Chelsea? Oh no, did she hear us?" He wondered with a distressed cowl.

I shrugged, changing my face into a mask of concern. "I'm not sure. How sad..."

"Should I go after her?" Edward asked with a sad, guilty expression.

"Why?" I asked blandly, picking at a split end.

"I mean, we made her cry. I'm sure I hurt her feelings."

Knowing how nothing Edward said could make up for the hurt Chelsea was experiencing right about now, I encouraged him to go. Before he left after her, he kissed me again, his fingers digging into my hips before he went.

"I saw what you did there." Alice's voice surprised me, her small form coming from the darkness of a hallway to the left.

"And what exactly did you see?" I asked, pulling my flask from my pocket, uncapping it, and taking a gulp.

"I know you did that on purpose." Her face was neither condemning or disgusted, just a bit understanding and a tad amused.

"Great detective work, Watson."

She rolled her eyes, but smiled. "Why'd you do it though? You know Chelsea likes Edward…"

"Precisely," I said with a smirk.

"Precisely what?" Alice asked.

"They're like puppets, Alice, and I'm the puppeteer; sometimes I let them do what they want, let things fall as they may. But other times," I smiled, glancing over at her, "I like to pluck the strings and see what will happen."

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**Tit for tat: Review and get Chelsea's POV**


	15. Chapter 15

Some of you were really appalled by Bella's behavior in the last chapter. I feel like I must remind everyone that I did establish her personality back in Chapter 1. However, in that same vein, I must stress that she will not always be this...apathetic. Just hang on. Thank you to those people who did not stop reading because of last chapter!

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_**Bella**_

In the coming weeks, the air turned brisker and green turned to red. Tests came more frequently, and so did my time with Edward.

With our project deadline looming just before the fall break, we spent most of our downtime in the library. On one unassuming Wednesday night, rain belting down in thick sheets, visible through the tremendous windows, that's where we were.

The library was quiet and empty, except for me, Edward, and the two student librarians. The window, showcasing nothing but black and pelts of raindrops on its surface, was the backdrop to our working. The dim lights of the third floor lit up Edward's Heat Miser hair, the tips glowing gold. I took a moment to stare as he pored over a textbook.

Not since my birthday had anything else happened between Edward and me. We hadn't discussed it, but there was a silent sort of impasse there. It was clear Edward was a committed type, and I had always considered myself too independent and self-sufficient to rely on anyone else to provide me happiness or contentment. Those who fell in love seemed vulnerable to me, weakened by their heightened and heady emotions.

"What are you staring at?" Edward murmured, not looking up.

I smiled, a rare, pleased one. "Oh, nothing."

He raised his eyes and chuckled before glancing back down to his notes. "Hey," he said then, "can you go find _Descartes_' _Error_?" He flipped a few pages in his notebook before adding, "It's by António Damásio. And also, _Bacterial Pathogenesis _by Abigail Salyers."

Thankful to busy myself from thoughts of him, I rose and went to find the books. After minutes of searching, I found the shelf the first book was located on. Unfortunately, due to my stature, I would be forced to A) climb the shelves like a spider monkey to reach it, or B) find a ladder somewhere. As I was contemplating my options, a warm presence melded to my back, lightly pushing me forward. Edward's cologne snaked itself into my brain, lowering both my heartbeat and guard.

"I was wondering what took you so long," he said as I turned; his arm coiled down, the _Descarte__s_' Error dwarfed by his hand.

The way he looked at me made my skin goosebump, literally raising hairs. My breath became short and my heart palpitated almost audibly as he gazed down at me sincerely. Suddenly overwhelmed, I slipped out from in front of him.

"I'll go get _Bacterial Pathogenesis_," I muttered, embarrassed by my internal wanton reaction.

Thankfully, the second book was easy to reach, and I found myself back at our work table in just a few short minutes. Edward was already flipping through the book he had assisted me with reaching, placing tabs on important pages. I sat, placing down the textbook I'd retrieved. A strange cover, buried beneath stray papers caught my eye. I pulled it from beneath the worksheets, reading the title: _Romeo and Juliet._

"Why do you have this?" I asked him, running my hand over the rough cover.

Edward stared at the book for several moments, a look of confusion as his cowl. "I don't know," he admitted. "I must have accidentally picked it up on my first trip to get books."

I nodded, flipping through its pages. "Pathetic," I muttered.

"Hmm?" Edward hummed in question.

"This," I said, holding up _Romeo and Juliet_. "The fact the library would even provide this to people is pathetic."

Edward furrowed his brow. "That's an important piece of literature...and a dear story to many people's hearts."

I chuckled a little bit. "How this could be considered important at all in the literary world is beyond me. The premise itself is just outrageous."

He stared at me. "_Why_, because they were in love even after having only known each other a few days?" His eyes told me things that his tone wouldn't bely.

"Well, there is that," I acknowledged, "but what I'm referring to is the notion of being soulmates. They literally committed suicide because they thought themselves to be soulmates."

"You don't believe in soulmates?" Edward wondered, his voice quiet.

"I don't," I answered. "The idea that there is literally only one soul you can have a certain type of love with is crazy to me. Everyone has different aspects to them that are likable...lovable even, so how can one soul - a particular combination of particular characteristics - only be linked to one other soul?"

Edward thought for a moment. "I guess you have a point, but I think I'll still hold out for the concept of soulmates to be true."

I smiled at him, liking the way his cheeks reddened when it was cold and I was right. It was another half hour before we decided to call it a night. My stomach burned with hunger as we descended the stairs and waved goodbye to the two student workers closing. Our walk into the parking lot was quiet and at last Edward and I were forced to separate.

I was craving Italian food, and before I could overanalyze or renege on an offer not yet made, I invited Edward to come along.

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**TIT FOR TAT: Review and you'll get Edward's POV**


	16. Chapter 16

**I have a new story up now - a mystery! Go check it out - it's called Violent Delights**

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_**Bella**_

Fall break came as quickly as August, September, and October flew by. Sooner than I realized Thanksgiving break was upon us.

"If you aren't going home, tell me why you won't come with me and Jasper," Rose demanded, stuffing jeans into her suitcase at a rapid pace.

I sighed, knowing she'd never understand. "Because I don't feel like doing cliche family stuff right now. And besides," I smiled up at her from my perch on her bed, "I'm not really a turkey girl."

"We'll have ham, too," she tried once more.

I snorted softly. "No chance."

She huffed but didn't further her attempts at getting me to go home with them for the holiday. It was another hour later that Jasper and Rose were done packing, and I was dropping them off at the airport. My own parents had been morose to find out that I wasn't coming to see them for Thanksgiving, but I didn't care. I was going to have an excellent holiday by myself with only cigarettes and books to keep me company.

To start off my self-celebrated holiday, I dropped by Bella Italia for takeout. And just as I walked up to the podium stand to give the hostess my pickup name, I saw him. I couldn't miss that sloppy hair if I tried. He was talking to a gangly waiter, laughing when he showed Edward a picture on his phone. It was a few more moments before the waiter walked away and Edward caught me staring.

His face lit up in a smile as he walked over. "Hey, pretty girl." My cheeks warmed instantly despite my inner struggle of calming my butterflies. "What are you doing here?"

"Picking up some Italian for one," I answered, leaning against the wall. The hostess had mysteriously drifted off, nowhere to be found.

"What are Rose and Jasper up to tonight?" He wondered.

"I just dropped them off at the airport. They should be a few thousand feet in the air."

He frowned. "When are you going home?"

"I'm not," I told him, enjoying the way his pretty face scrunched up in confusion. "I decided to stay here for Thanksgiving."

His bottom lip drooped out in a sort of frowny pout. "So you're going to be all alone for the holiday?"

I nodded. "Yep."

"That's not right," he murmured. "You should have Thanksgiving with me. It'll just be me and my mom but she makes great food."

Chuckling, I passed. "No thank you. That's nice but Thanksgiving really isn't my thing."

He scrutinized me and I felt heavy under his stare. "Do you like spaghetti?"

"Love it. That's what I ordered actually," I said, looking around for the hostess again.

"Have dinner with me tonight. My mom made spaghetti and as I said before, she's a great cook." I started to reply but he stopped me. "Plus, it's a hell of a lot better than what this place makes."

I was mesmerized by his persuasive words and pink cheeks and green eyes and tinted hair. "Alright."

He blinked, tilting back. "Really?" He questioned, clearly surprised.

I smiled, enjoying that I had surprised him. "Yeah, sure. Why not?"

"Let's get out of here then."

Abandoning the recently recovered hostess and my to-go bag of mediocre spaghetti, Edward and I set off to his house.

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"Home sweet home."

Edward's house, a mere 40 minutes from campus, was a modest two stories, and cute with its off-white exterior and turkey decorations. Always the gentleman, Edward opened my car door and ushered me up to the porch and through the front door. The inside was warmly decorated in shades of tan, and it smelled of cinnamon and apples.

"Mom!" He yelled, flicking on lights as we walked deeper in the house. He drifted into the kitchen, going to the fridge where a square was held up. Edward frowned as he read over the note taped to the fridge, a messy, hurried scrawl on a scrap of white paper.

"I guess my mom got called in for a shift," he muttered, throwing the note away. "You'll have to meet her some other time," he said nonchalantly, pulling back the cover on a dish that sat atop the stove. The smell hit me immediately: pasta, tomatoes, garlic, butter, and spices. My mouth watered instantly.

"That looks amazing," I said, sniffing the air.

Edward smiled, nodding. "I told you so." He scooped two mounds of spaghetti on plates and set them down at the small dining room table. "I'm gonna change real quick." He jogged away and up the stairwell that cut through the living room.

I sat waiting for 2, 3, 4, 5 minutes. Finally, I huffed and got up, following Edward's trail. Just as I reached the middle of the stairs, Edward appeared, coming down and stopping at the step below me.

"What took you so long?" I asked, staying put.

"Sorry," he apologized, "my mom called and told me she'd be home at midnight."

I nodded, stepping to go back down, but Edward's hold on my wrist stopped me. Without notice, he jerked me forward so that our lips were almost touching. "I've wanted to do this all night." And then he pushed his lips against mine and we forgot all about spaghetti.

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**Review and you get Edward's POV!**


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